Telangana's Renowned Folk Singer Gaddar Passes Away From Heart Attack

On August 6th, 2023, Gaddar, the celebrated folk singer, poet, and former Naxalite supporter from Telangana, passed away at the age of 77 following a prolonged illness. Gaddar's last rites were performed on 7 August.

Gaddar was popular for his revolutionary songs during and after the Telangana statehood movement in the 1980s.

• Born as Gummadi Vittal Rao in 1949 at Tooparan in Medak district, popularly known as 'Gaddar', a renowned folk singer and poet.

• Gaddar died at the city's Apollo Spectra Hospital due to lung and urinary problems and old age. He was suffering from severe heart disease.

• However, he had a history of lung and urinary problems, which increased with age and led to his demise.

• Gaddar had attended a public meeting of the Congress addressed by Rahul Gandhi in Khammam, Telangana on 2 July.

• A decade ago, his song 'Podustunna Poddu Meeda Nadustunna Kalma Poru Telanganama' became the anthem of the Telangana Achievement Movement.

Mainstream return in 2017

• Gaddar had been underground for a long time. He actively participated in the Telangana movement. He returned to the mainstream in the year 2017 and declared himself as an Ambedkarite.

• In the year 2018, Gaddar voted for the first time in his life in the Telangana assembly elections.

Telangana:

• The Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act (2014) bifurcated Andhra Pradesh into two separate states, (Andhra Pradesh (Rest) and Telangana).

• • Establishment: Telangana, India's 29th state, was carved out of the north-western part of Andhra Pradesh on 2 June 2014.

• Capital: Hyderabad

Four symbols of Telangana:

• State Bird: Palpitta (Indian Roller or Blue Jay).

• State Animal: Jinka (deer).

• State Tree: Jammi Chattu (Prosopis cineraria).

• State Flower: Tangedu (Tanner's cassia).

• The Ramappa temple in Mulugu district represents the typical style of the Kakatiyas. The foundation of this temple is’ Sandbox Technique’. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.