Doyen of Telugu literature C Narayana Reddy dies in Hyderabad

Doyen of Telugu literature and Jnanpith awardee Dr C Narayana Reddy died of brief illness in Hyderabad on Monday morning.

He was 86. He is survived by four daughters.

Reddy complained of chest pain in the morning and was rushed to a private hospital where he breathed his last.

Popularly known as Cinare, the noted litterateur was born at Hanumajipet village of Rajanna Sircilla district (which was part of Karimnagar district till recently) of Telangana on July 29, 1931.

Though he studied in Urdu medium school, Reddy mastered Telugu literature and joined Osmania University as a Telugu professor. He also served as vice-chancellor of the Telugu University.

Known for his excellent rhyming skills, Reddy wrote several books, including composition of poems like Karpoora Vasantha Rayalu and Nagarjuna Saagaramu.

Indian poet and writer, C Narayan Reddy passes away. He won the Jnanpith Award in 1988 and was considered an authority on Telugu literature. pic.twitter.com/7CmfM1BRkd

— ANI (@ANI_news) June 12, 2017

His magnum opus Vishwambhara, which was translated into several other Indian languages, fetched him Jnanpith award in 1988.

He was honoured with several literary awards like Kala Prapoorna and doctorates by various universities. In 1992, he was honoured with India’s third highest civilian award Padma Bhushan.

ఇది తెలుగు పాట మూగబోయిన వేళ! Dr.C.Narayana Reddy garu's contribution to Telugu language is peerless.This is a void that cannot be filled

— Jr NTR (@tarak9999) June 12, 2017

He was nominated to Rajya Sabha in August 1997.

Reddy became more popular among the common people with his lyrics in Telugu films. He had penned more than 3,000 songs for various Telugu films, and all of them were big hits.

Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, his Telangana counterpart K Chandrasekhar Rao and several literary personalities and lyricists from Telugu film industry condoled Reddy’s death.

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First Published: Jun 12, 2017 12:04 IST