Nayani Krishnakumari, Indian scholar, Died at 85

Nayani Krishnakumari was born on March 14, 1930, and died on January 29, 2016.

She was the daughter of Nayani Subba Rao and Hanumayamma in Guntur, a town in Andhra Pradesh, India.

Her husband was Canakapalli Madhusudana Rao, a lawyer and a distant relative in 1954.

The couple had one daughter and two sons.

Nayani Krishnakumari was a distinguished scholar, poet, researcher, speaker and an active participant in literary and cultural organizations.

Nayani has worked for a variety of Institutions in various capacities.

And she has received several awards such as Swarnakankanam instituted by Desoddharaka Kasinathuni Nageswara Rao, Best Telugu Writer award from Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University, and Sahitya Akademi among others.

Mrs. Krishnakumari has been an active participant in literary and cultural events.

Nayani worked on Telugu ballads and she obtained her doctorate in 1970.

Krishnakumari has a master’s degree in Sanskrit.

In her thesis, Krishnakumari took the western critiquing tools and explained the narrative style in Telugu ballads and correlated their underlying philosophy to the Telugu culture scientifically.

Her first book, a story of the Andhra people, entitled Andhrula katha, was published when she was 18.

The book was designated as textbook in schools.

Some of her first collection of poetry, agniputri, was published in 1978, shortly after her father died.

Nayani Krishnakumari passed away at 85 yrs old.