Kolachalam Srinivasa Rao

Who was Kolachalam Srinivasa Rao?

Kolachalam Srinivasa Rao was a noted dramatist from Bellary.

A pleader and a non-professional theatre practitioner from Bellary, Srinivasa Rao belonged to the family of Mallinatha Suri, the world-famous writer acclaimed as Vyakyatha Shiromani. Srinivasa Rao became famous after publishing the English translation of Prapancha Nataka Charitra in 1908. His family was a very learned one. Even in childhood he was accomplished in Sanskrit and Telugu, and was familiar with Kannada. English was acquired at school. He took to Law. Srinivasa Rao's second elder brother Venkata Rao was a lawyer and in a high position, who was later elected as a member of the Madras Assembly. Under the guidance of his elder brother, Srinivasa Rao's literary effort flourished without a break. He was further helped by the local environment in Bellary where the drama movement was flourishing with redoubled vigour. In such a conducive atmosphere, wrote his magnum opus, as well as dramas, commentaries on the Vedas and other literary works. His first drama was Sunandini Parinayam, published around 1894-95, after which he wrote about 30 plays. A large number of these plays were performed by their drama company Sumanorama Sabha. Bellary Raghava and Srinivasa Rao worked closely in running the affairs of the Sabha.