JANAPADA GEYALU-200

JAANAPADA GEYAALU, "Kalaprapoorna" Dr. Avasarala Anasuya Devi is popularly called "The Queen of Folk Music". Born on 12th May, 1920, she celebrated the platinum jubilee of her singing years in 2003. Anasuya is a prodigy who rendered her first gramophone record, the famous Telugu folk song "Ayyo Koyyoda", at the tender age of eight. For more than eight decades, she made her mark as an unparalleled singer, music composer, musicologist, writer and harmonium player of the highest quality. She is the pioneer of folk and light music in Andhra Pradesh. She started a new form of music called "Bhaava Geethaalu" that was later known as "Lalitha Sangeetham". Though she was trained in Carnatic music from the age of 5, folk music has always remained her special interest. She is responsible for bringing the rich folk songs of Andhra Pradesh, gathered from remote villages, to the concert halls in 1929 and All India Radio in 1938. Anasuya Devi is the recipient of several awards like Honorary Doctorate in 1977, "Kala Saraswathy", "Queen of Folk Music", "Grihalakshmi Swarna Kankanam", "Janapada Pitamahi", "Kala Tapaswini" and three times Lifetime Achievement Award in the United States and India. Anasuya has published her extensive collection of songs with Carnatic notations in the form of seven books to preserve and propagate this rich legacy. After her 80th year, she started writing short stories and published her first work of fiction "Nenu-Naa Rachanalu" in 2003. Her second book "Gataaniki Swaagatham" provides a quaint insight into the ethos of a bygone era. It is more autobiographical in nature and weaves together vivid sketches of interesting people and unusual incidents. Anasuya's creativity is at full swing at the age of 87 as she continues to sing, compose, teach and write.