Bharat Ratna for Ghantasala – Signature Campaign
Dear Respected President of India and Respected Prime Minster of India,
On the Birth Centenary of Sri Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao garu, we request the Government of India to recognize him with Bharata Ratna posthumously for his tremendous contributions in the field of Music of India. For the 80 million Telegu speaking people in the two states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and all over India and the world, Sri Ghantasala (as he is commonly known) was a legend. His rendering of the Bhagavad-Gita, that epitomized his divine voice, will forever be one of the most listened recordings in India. His contributions as music director and singer in several Indian languages - Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam, and Hindi - are immense in a career spanning for more than 25 years.
Please sign the petition: Telugu version: change.org/BharatRatnaForGhantasalaGaru
Sri Ghantasala garu sang more than 10,000 songs and directed music for 110 films. Such a combination of being a singer and music director, both in large numbers, is unparalleled by any musician in India. His non-film songs collection that included The Bhagavad Gita, Kunti Kumari, Pushpa Vilapam and patriotic songs became popular. He authored, composed music and sang some of these songs -"bahudoorapu baatasaari", "idi sandhyasamayam" - all by himself, thus joining the ranks of “vaggeyakaarulu" (poet-composers). His voice had so much versatility that, according to a famous composer Sri Pendyala Nageswara Rao, he was one of the very few playback singers who could sing at all three octaves ("threesthayee") with ease.
His life was dedicated to music from his childhood till the last day! He accompanied his father as a child in performing tarangams. Then itself, he was recognized for his sense of music, and was advised to learn music formally. While going through severe financial hardships, he persisted in learning music at the Maharajah's Government College of Music and Dance in Vijayanagram. He started his career at All India Radio and once he was introduced to the film industry, there was no looking back and had a memorable journey till the end. He performed and represented Telugu music at the United Nations and in many countries. He sang even on the day before his death from the hospital bed for Bhadrachala Ramadasu Vaibhavam.
Sri Ghantasala garu was also a freedom fighter during the Quit India movement in 1942. He sang several patriotic songs among the people and inspired scores of them to take up the cause of the Indian independence. The British Government could not contain him and his work and finally jailed him for 18 months in Alipore and Ballari jails. After the independence, he formally recorded several of these songs and they continue to be inspirational for generations to come!
Sri Ghantasala garu was so highly respected that the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams made him the Aaasthana Gaayaka (court musician) for the temple. It is to be noted that, after the 15th century saint Sri Annamayya, he is the only musician who performed in Venkateshwara Swami garbhagudi (inner sanctum).
His popularity was so comprehensive that so many people and local organizations have taken it upon themselves, without any religious or political affiliations, to dedicate more than fifty statues of Sri Ghantasala in their villages, towns and cities. The first among them, currently at the Ravindrabharati auditorium in Hyderabad, was spearheaded by Padmabhushan Sri S P Balasubramanyam. The devotion to his music extends even further in the form of temples for him in Anakapalle, Srikakulam, and Hyderabad.
As a singer, and as a music director he touched so many lives, he immortalized the works of so many music directors, gave life to the performances of so many top actors on the screen with his voice, and always encouraged so many upcoming artists of that time. With his voice that spans across a wide spectrum - from the lively love songs to the deep sorrow songs - he played a big role in the acting careers of legendary actors like N.T.Ramarao, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Krishna, Sobhan Babu, Kanta Rao, Krishnam Raju, and Murali Mohan in Telugu, Sivaji Ganeshan, M.G.Ramachandran, and Gemini Ganesan in Tamil, Rajkumar in Kannada and Prem Nazir in Malayalam.
He sang with all the famous Music Directors of that time - Pendyala, S Rajeshwara Rao, TV Raju, Subbaraman, Kodandapani, KV Mahadevan, MS Vishwanathan - and made their tunes into memorable songs. It is very difficult to talk about any of their works without giving due credit to Sri Ghantasala. Similarly, he gave life to so many songs written by all the great lyricists including Samudrala, Kosaraju, Arudra, Atreya, Sri Sri, C Narayanara Reddy, and Dasaradhi. All of them have expressed their gratitude to the Golden voice of Ghantasala for bringing out the deep lyrical value in their songs. He performed thousands of songs with ease alongside of so many co-singers like Jikki, Jamunarani, P Leela, P Suseela, Rao Balasaraswati, and S Janaki.
As a music director he composed music for 118 movies in all languages. Some of these famous movies - Patala Bhairavi, Mayabazar, Lava Kusa, Govula Gopanna, Pandava Vanavasam, Rahasyam, Gundamma Katha, Paramanandayya Shishyula Katha, Bratuku deruvu, Manchi Manasuku manchi rojulu, Sabhash Ramudu, Pelli Chesi Chudu, and Mayabazaar - would never have been as blockbuster hits without his background music and the songs.
Though Ghantasala was the best playback singer from his first movie until his death, and most directors would want him to sing all their songs, he always encouraged upcoming singers like PB Srinivas, AM Raja, Madavapeddi, Pitapuram, S P Balasubramanyam, and V Ramakrishna. The legendary SP Balasubramanyam always attributed his success to his beloved "maastaru garu" as he addressed Ghantasala with reverence.
The Indian government recognized Sri Ghantasala with a PadmaShri in 1970. A postage stamp was released in his honor in 2003. However, for all his contributions to the field of Indian Music, it is appropriate that he be given the highest civilian honor of the land in India, the Bharata Ratna. Since his birth centenary celebrations are being celebrated this year, this will be the best opportunity to honor him now!
Please sign the petition: https://www.change.org/BharatRatnaforGhantasala
National Associations that are supporting this effort in USA are listed in Alphabetical order:
AAPI – American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin.
APTA - America Progressive Telugu Association.
ATA - American Telugu Association
ATS - American Telangana Society
GMCANA – Guntur Medical College Alumni of North America
GSKI – Ghantasala Sangeetha Kalasala International
IAMA – Indian American Medical Association
NATA - North AMerican Telugu Association
NRIVA - NRI Vasavi Association
SNUSA - Sankara Nethralaya USA
Silicon Andhra
SEWA International
SPBMI – Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam Music International
TANA - Telugu Association of North America
TDF – Telangana Development Forum
TTA - Telangana American Telugu Association
USA National Telugu Associations participated in BharatRatna for Ghantasala Zoom Program on January 16th, 2022: Coordinator: Bala Reddy Indurti, Anchor: Viju Chiluveru (manaTV, TV5)
• Krishna Kumari Ghantasala, W/O Ghantasala Ratnakumar : Chennai India
• Dr. Raghava Reddy Gosala, NATA, Philadelphia PA, USA
• Narender Chemarla, ATS, Chicago IL, USA
• Dr. Anand Kuchibhotla, Silicon Andhra, San Jose CA, USA
• Vamshi Reddy, TTA, Seattle WA, USA
• Hari Raini, NRIVA, Chicago IL, USA