R. R. Sundara Rao

Sundara Rao had his ministerial formation at the Lutheran Theological College, Rajahmundry, affiliated to the nation's first[5] University, the Senate of Serampore College (University), under the Principalship of G. Devasahayam.[1] He graduated in the year 1960[1] and was awarded a L. Th.[1] degree by then Registrar of the University, Chetti Devasahayam, CBCNC. Sundara Rao later upgraded his academics by pursuing a Bachelor of Divinity degree.[2] Sundara Rao was awarded a degree by the University, again during the Registrarship of Chetti Devasahayam.

For language studies, Sundara Rao enrolled for a graduate and postgraduate programme in Telugu at the Andhra University and the Venkateshwara University which awarded him with a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts respectively. Sundara Rao also researched from 1976 to 1980[2] at the University of Wisconsin, Madison[11] submitting a dissertation in 1981 entitled The bhakti element in Āndhra Kraistava Kīrtanalu : an intensive study of the phenomenon of bhakti, a Sanskrit word for devotion, as presented in the Telugu Christian Hymnal[3]

Sundara Rao was a Pastor of the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church Society and ministered in congregations until his appointment as Lecturer in 1973[2] at the Andhra Christian Theological College, Hyderabad where he taught in an ecumenical setting with other Protestant congregations. In fact, the Lutheran Theological College, Rajahmundry in which Sundara Rao had his ministerial formation amalgamated itself in 1964 into Andhra Christian Theological College, a special purpose entity which comprised four existing Seminaries,

• the Andhra Union Theological College, Dornakal comprising the Anglicans and the Methodists,
• the Baptist Theological Seminary, Kakinada comprising the Baptists (Canadian), and
• the Lutheran Theological College, Rajahmundry comprising the Lutherans (American and German),
• the Ramayapatnam Baptist Theological Seminary, Ramayapatnam comprising the Baptists (American).

Sundara Rao taught in the special purpose entity from 1973[2] through 1988 when the College was led by three Church Societies, namely the Church of South India, the Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars and the Samavesam of Telugu Baptist Churches led by Victor Premasagar, K. David, and S. Joseph respectively.

From 1988 onwards, Sundara Rao accepted a teaching assignment at the Gurukul Lutheran Theological College, Chennai and taught Religions. On 1 April 1992, Sundara Rao was made Principal of the College, a role which brought greater responsibilities on him. On 9 November 1992, he breathed his last in Chennai.[4]

Ravela Joseph and Suneel Bhanu who have compiled Bibliography of original Christian writings in India in Telugu in 1993 have included the writings of Sundara Rao in their compilation published by the Board of Theological Education of the Senate of Serampore College.[12]

• No date, Essays on Special Christian Themes (in Telugu),[13]
• No date, Renaissance Movements (in Telugu),[14]
• 1963, Prayer (in Telugu),[15]
• 1976,[16] Telugulō Kraistava sāhityaṃ (in Telugu) (reprint in 1989)[17]
• 1983, Bhakti theology in the Telugu hymnal,[6]
• 1986, Mahākavi Jāṣuva vyaktitvaṃ, kavitvaṃ (in Telugu)[18]
• 1987, Bābālu, Svāmījīlu, Gurumahārājulu (in Telugu)[2]
• 1989, A critical look at Ambedkar's conversion[19]
• 1990, Mission and evangelism in India[20]
• 1990, The Church in Andhra Pradesh[21]

In 1975,[2] the Kadapa-based Kala Kendriya Sangham and Yuva Rachayitala Sangham conferred upon Sundara Rao the title of Sahitya Vibhushan. Subsequently in 1982,[2] the Secunderabad-based Kraistava Sahitya Vihaaram awarded him a Sahitya Ratna.

Further reading

• Dorothy Yoder Nyce (2015). "Glimpses of Mennonite Engagement with Hindu Thought and Practice". Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• Katherine C. Zubko (2014). "Dancing Bodies of Devotion: Fluid Gestures in Bharata Natyam". ISBN 978-0-7391-8728-9. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• John B. Carman & Chilkuri Vasantha Rao (2014). "Christians in South Indian Villages, 1959-2009". ISBN 978-0-8028-7163-3. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• James Elisha Taneti (2011). "History of the Telugu Christians: A Bibliography". ISBN 978-0-8108-7243-1. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• Chandra Mallampalli (2004). "Christians and Public Life in Colonial South India, 1863-1937: Contending with marginality". ISBN 0-203-39087-3. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• Herbert E. Hoefer (1991). "Churchless Christianity". ISBN 0-87808-444-4. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

Notes