Biruduraju Ramaraju

Biruduraju Ramaraju (16 April 1925 – 8 February 2010) was an Indian writer, scholar and professor best known for his study of Telugu-language folklore.

Ramaraju had also been active in Hindu nationalist organizations. He was one of the main members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in 1974. He became the Andhra Pradesh state President for the Vishva Hindu Parishad in 1980's and led the Ram Janmbhoomi Movement in 1984. Meeting at Vishva Hindu Parishad, presided by Andhra Pradesh President, Biruduraju Ramaraju with vice- president G. Pulla Reddy at the organization.

Life and career Ramaraju was born in a family of wealthy zamindars (landlords) in a remote village named Devunuru located in present-day Telangana, India on 16 April 1925. He was able to complete his primary education in the village, but had to walk 14 km to Madikonda, near Hanamkonda and now a part of the district centre of Warangal, for his secondary schooling. During the 1940s, Ramaraju got involved in politics, dabbling in the Arya Samaj and the Andhra Mahasabha as well as participating in the Indian independence movement, culminating in his imprisonment for three months in 1947 for his participation in one of Gandhi's satyagrahas. Although he wished to attend the London School of Economics, his father's death later that year meant he had to stay home and take care of his family instead, but he was still determined to study his academic interests and decided to complete his higher education in-state. Ramaraju later become a professor at the Department of Telugu at Osmania, and would also serve as a visiting professor at over fifty universities in the country as well as given opportunities to travel abroad as part of cultural exchange projects. In his later career, he would become dean of the department, publish numerous researcher papers and encyclopedia articles, and give talks on the radio before his retirement. In 1995, the Indian government granted him the title of National Research Professor.

Ramaraju died at his home in Hyderabad on 8 February 2010. Kakatiya University Telugu Department held a meeting to eulogize him, and his collection was donated to C P Brown Memorial Library in Kadapa.