Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy unveiling the statue of Telangana Talli at the Secretariat to mark the conclusion of the Praja Palana Vijayotsvalu in Hyderabad on Monday.
| Photo Credit: RAMAKRISHNA G.
Hours before the inauguration of the new Telangana Talli statue, the Telangana government issued a Government Order (GO) prohibiting any disrespect to the image. “Insulting, ruining, burning, showing disrespect towards Telangana Talli picture openly, online or on social media is a crime,” says the GO as political parties and citizens are divided over the statue of a matronly figure.
From a woman with a golden crown in a red sari holding up a stalk of corn and rice in her hands to a woman in a green sari holding up a stalks of rice, corn and millets, the transformation of Telangana Talli is now a matter of dispute. ‘My mother image looks more authentic than your mother’s image’, is the discourse as political parties and citizens draw their own conclusions.
B. Venkataramana Chari, a resident of Nirmal, created the Telangana Talli statue in 2003 as the separate Telangana agitation was at its peak. It was later installed in the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS, now Bharat Rashtra Samithi) headquarters and became a landmark at many city junctions.
Actress Vijayashanti started Talli Telangana party to campaign for a separate State in 2005. The party merged with TRS due to lack of popular support in 2012.
“First it was painted by T. Gangadhar of Jawaharlal Nehru Fine Arts University according to the vision of the chief minister who wanted a simple Telangana woman instead of a wealthy person. I turned the painting into a bronze sculture which was unveiled today,” says artist M.V. Ramana Reddy who has also designed the Martyrs’ Memorial, situated bang opposite its location.
“We don’t need idols. We had an iconography of Matru Bhoomi or mother earth which has been turned into a sculpture. Now it is unnecessary to have Telangana Talli statue and turn it into an object of reverence or worship. It would have been okay if it were depicted appropriately,” says Sriramoju Haragopal, convener of Kotha Telangana Charitra Brundam, sharing his reservations about the sculpture.
“The earlier image had a golden crown turning her into a goddess. The new sculpture has an open palm which looks like the Congress symbol. There was no necessity for this as our entire race cannot be represented by an image,” says Mr. Haragopal.
April 2025 would mark 50 years of the creation of the Telugu Talli which was conceptualised to coincide with the first World Telugu Conference in L.B. Stadium in Hyderabad in April-12-18, 1975. It was for this event that Kondapalli Seshagiri Rao was commissioned by Chief Minister Jalagam Vengal Rao to paint a ‘Telugu Talli’ as an inclusive embodiment of Telugu culture. It was at this event that Sankarambadi Sundarachari’s lines ‘Maa Telugu Talliki Mallipoodanda’ were immortalised by the nasal voice of Tangaturi Suryakumari who flew in from London to perform in Hyderabad. The sculpture that was created to unify has morphed and now become a divisive figure.
Incidentally, both the mother figures have corn stalks in their hands. Corn came to India only in the 16th century when the Portuguese reached the Indian shores for trade.
Published – December 10, 2024 12:03 am IST
