Shri Gururajulu Naidu was one of the greatest proponents of the art of Harikathe story telling. He is known as Harikathe pitamaha of Karnataka. Along with Achyuta Dasa and Keshava Dasa, he formed the trinity of Harikatha Vidwans. His Guru Vidwan Shree Rama Shesha Shastry and Gururajulu Naidu popularised Harikathe in Karnataka by bringing out albums of Harikathe. His daughters also are popular Harikatha vidwans. A partial listing of Gururajulu Naidu's Harikathe are:
- Renukadevi Mahatme
- Bhookailasa
- Bheema Jarasandha
- Bhakta Sudama
Shri Gururajulu Naidu trained Harikatha to several disciples, few named as Shri N. Suryanarayanadas, Smt. Kumari Malini and LakshmanaDas.
His Harmonist: Vidwan Shivaramu.
Gururajulu Naidu is also known as Arun Kumar from the Kannada film industry. He acted in movies like Hannele Chiguridhaga, Mooruvare Vajragalu. MadhuMalathi his Co-Star in these movies are Dr.Rajkumar. He also acted with Madhavi in Shivakanye. In Bangalore, in his honor a roundabout named by municipality called "Gururajulu Naidu Vruttha".
Style
Gururajulu Naidu's style of Harikathe is far removed from the slow and traditional style. It is fast paced, interspersed with many humorous stories. Each Harikathe is about 90 minutes long. Though he has been criticised for this by the purists, the immense popularity of Gururajulu Naidu's Harikathe shows how the masses loved them. The content here is very less compared to the mahatma's true abilities.
His some of the popular numbers are:
- Bhaktha Markendeya
- Bhaktha Siriyala
- MahiRavana
- Maya Bazaar
- Nallathanga Devi
- Gaja Gowri Vratha
- Shri Krishna Garudie
- Lava Kusha
- Nakku Nagisi Aluva Maresu
- Bhaktha Sudhama
- Bheema Jharasandha
- Girija Kalyana
- Mooruvare Vajragalu
- Kiratarjuna
- Sathya Harishchandra
- Uttarana Paurusha
- Chandrahaasa
- Maruthi Vijaya
- Santha Sakku Bhai
- Koluru Kodu Gusu
- Ayyappa Swamy
- Babru Vahana
- Muruvare Vajragalu
- Bhukailasa
- Nala Damayanthi
- Shani Prabhava
- Ramayana (4 Parts)
- Renuka Devi Mahathme
- Bhakta Kumbara
- Santha Ganeshwara
External links
- http://www.kannadaaudio.com - website with audio recordings of Naidu