Mahaprasthanam (Revolutionary Poem by Srirangam Srinivasa Rao)

Srirangam Srinivasa Rao, better known as Sri Sri, was born in the Vishakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh. He was a beloved poet in the Telugu language and his poem Mahaprasthanam is the best manifestation of his revolutionary spirit. Sri Sri composed Mahaprasthanam (The Great Journey) in April 1934, while drawing inspiration from the Indian freedom struggle and the Russian Revolution. In this poem, Sri Sri urged the people to march forward and create a new world order based on social and economic equality. For him, revolution was a way to end all forms of exploitation, whether it was the rich exploiting the poor or the British exploiting Indians. This understanding of revolution was combined with a human emotional element in the poem, in which he drew metaphors from everyday aspects of human life. Mahaprasthanam was also revolutionary in the way it secularized the religious symbols of India’s various communities. This was a great achievement in itself as it appeared at a time when the British had redoubled their efforts to shatter communal harmony in the nation through their “Divide and Rule” policy. Thus, Mahaprasthanam was an appeal for a revolution against all forms of oppression. It remains a monument of progressive and anti-imperialist Telugu poetry.