The memorial literary awards named after people's poet Mallavajhala Sadasivudu, whose songs fired the Telangana movement, were presented in Hyderabad on Tuesday evening. The event was organised by the Telangana Vikas Samithi.

The winners

  • 2024–25: Dr Chaman Singh, poet and short-story writer
  • 2025–26: Dr Sangishetty Srinivas, literary critic and researcher
  • Special honours: Tirunagari Devakidevi and Kavvampalli Swamy, for literature and culture

BRS working president K T Rama Rao was chief guest and presented the awards. He recalled how the song "Thalapuna Paaruthundi Godavari" inspired the Telangana movement, and described Sadasivudu as a poet who "made swords grow from teardrops".

About the poet

Born in 1945 in Murmur village in today's Peddapalli district, Sadasivudu was a teacher, poet, songwriter and playwright who drew on oggu katha and bathukamma song forms, Namasthe Telangana notes. His family and the Telangana Vikas Samithi have given the award for about two decades.