Adya Rangacharya [Sriranga] -1904-1984

Born in a small town of Agarkhed in the erstwhile State of Bombay, he had his education at Bombay and London Universities. From an early age he was fascinated by the stage, by the rural stage in Kannada, the professional theatre in Marathi and by Shaw and Shakespeare in London. Though he took to teaching at Dharwad and Bombay, where he was a professor of Sanskrit for a number of years, his interest always remained the theatre.

His writings were original and prolific, which made him a trend-setter among Kannada and other Indian writers. His works include twelve novels and a number of scholarly books on the Indian Theatre, on Sanskrit drama, on The Bhagavadgita and a translation of Bharata's Natyasastra; but it was as a dramatist that he made his mark. He has to his credit 47 full-length and 68 One Act plays. Many of his plays have been translated into other Indian languages and have been performed on the stage at major centers in India. His play “Kelu Janmejaya”, translated into Hindi as “Suno Janmejaya” and in many other languages has been performed all over the country. With this play, he set the trend for new techniques and was often called an avant-garde writer. He also acted in many of his productions.

He was one of the first to start theatre workshops especially for teachers . This was to generate an early interest in students. Actively associated with the National School of Drama, he was instrumental in deputing many deserving students for training. Many of his plays have been trendsetters.

He was a Fellow of the Sangeet Natak Academy, the first director of the Kalidas Academy at Ujjain, a Honorary doctorate of Mysore and Karnataka Universities and was honored with the Padmabhushan by the Government of India.