City-based retired doctor G. Surendra has turned a documentary film maker.
His passion for Andhra history prompted a dive into the bygone era where he says he found pearls of wisdom that he wanted to share with others. Thus was born Andhrula Charitra, a documentary film chronicling the rich and glorious history of Andhra people.
“Andhrulu’ (natives of Andhra land) find a mention in Mahabharata. The epic says that Andhras and Kalingas supported the Kauravas during the Mahabharata war,” he said at a press conference here on Thursday.
“Andhra has a rich and glorious history which is seldom valued by its natives,” he bemoaned, adding that one of the objectives of the documentary film is to inform the current generation about their past, their roots that would give them a strong identity.
Speaking about his visits to London as part of his research, he says one visit to the British Museum where the a treasure of ancient artefacts of Amaravati occupy a pride of place, he says his work has captured the significance of the 120 sculptures and inscriptions from Amaravathi Mahachaitya in Amaravathi in Guntur district, the documentary talks about how the artefacts entered the British Museum’s collections in 1880s.
Referring to the first explorations of the site by Colin Mackenzie, the documentary then explains the excavated pieces from Amaravathi were transported first to Madras, and from there, to the British Museum.
“A visit to the London Museum is an eye-opener for people of Andhra as it demonstrates how foreigners have safeguarded our valuable history with such care,” he says.
Mr. Surendra has given the credit for development of Telugu language and culture to the several kings who ruled this part and were instrumental in promoting the culture through a series of programmes taken up by them.
The documentary film is scheduled to be formally released by Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu at Kakinada on Saturday (January 5).