Telugu Language Day is observed on 29 August, the birth anniversary of:

Telugu Language Day ("Telugu Bhasha Dinotsavam") is observed every year on 29 August, the birth anniversary of the Telugu writer, linguist and social reformer Gidugu Venkata Ramamurthy (1863-1940).

About Gidugu Venkata Ramamurthy:

• He was born on 29 August 1863 in Parvathalapeta, near Srikakulam, in present-day Andhra Pradesh.
• He was a teacher and historian, and an expert in the languages of the tribal people of the region.
• He is best known for leading the "Vyavaharika Bhasha Udyamam" (Spoken Language Movement).
• At the time, Telugu literature and education used "grandhika" Telugu, a classical, bookish form that ordinary people found hard to understand.
• He argued that the spoken, everyday form of Telugu ("vyavaharika bhasha") should be used in writing, education and literature so that knowledge could reach common people.
• He started a magazine, "Telugu", to promote this idea.

He also studied the Savara (Sora) tribal language, prepared a grammar and dictionary for it, and opened schools for the Savara people. The British government honoured him for this work.

Other facts about Telugu:

• Telugu was declared a "classical language" of India in 2008, along with Kannada.
• Telugu is called the "Italian of the East", a phrase attributed to the 15th-century Italian traveller Niccolò de' Conti in some accounts.
• The Vijayanagara emperor Krishnadevaraya wrote "Amuktamalyada" in Telugu and said, "Desa bhashalandu Telugu lessa" ("Among the languages of the land, Telugu is the best").
• Andhra State was the first state formed on a linguistic basis (1 October 1953), after the death of Potti Sriramulu on hunger strike.

Other Telugu reformers:

• Kandukuri Veeresalingam: social reformer; promoted widow remarriage; "Father of the Telugu Renaissance".
• Gurajada Apparao: wrote the play "Kanyasulkam" (1892) in spoken Telugu.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Kandukuri Veeresalingam promoted widow remarriage.
• ✗Gurajada Apparao wrote "Kanyasulkam".
• ✗Potti Sriramulu fasted for a separate Andhra State.