YS Jagan Hails Kandukuri Veeresalingam as Telugu Community’s Pride

YSRCP President and former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy paid glowing tributes to social reformer Kandukuri Veeresalingam on the occasion of his 177th birth anniversary.

Describing Veeresalingam as a visionary who dedicated his life to the upliftment of women, Jagan shared on X, “He is the pride of the Telugu community. His contributions as a writer and social reformer can never be forgotten. His ideals continue to inspire this generation.”

Born on April 16, 1848, into a Telugu-speaking Brahmin family in Rajahmundry (then part of the Madras Presidency, now in Andhra Pradesh), Kandukuri Veeresalingam is widely regarded as the Father of the Telugu Renaissance Movement. He was a pioneering reformer who strongly opposed child marriage and the dowry system, and was among the earliest advocates for women’s education and widow remarriage.

A scholar fluent in Telugu, Sanskrit, and Hindi, Veeresalingam believed that literature could be a powerful tool for social change. His works—Prahlada and Satya Harishchandra (both plays written in 1886), and the novel Rajasekhara Charitamu (1880)—reflected his reformist ideals.

His lifelong efforts toward women’s empowerment earned him national recognition and a lasting legacy.