R. R. Sundara Rao, AELC Scholar of Comparative religion | |
|---|---|
| Born | Rayi Ratna Sundara Rao July 15, 1934 |
| Died | November 9, 1992 (aged 58) |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Education | L.Th.[1] (Serampore) B.A. (Andhra), B. D.[2] (Serampore) M.A.[2] (Venkateshwara), Ph.D.[3] (Wisconsin) |
| Alma mater |
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| Occupation | Comparative religion Scholar |
| Years active | 1960-1992 (32 years) |
| Parent(s) | Smt. Catherine (Mother), Sri David (Father)[2] |
| Religion | Christianity |
| Church | Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church Society |
| Ordained | 1960, G. Devasahayam, AELC |
| Writings | See detailed section |
Congregations served | AELC congregations (1960-1973) |
Offices held | Professor, Andhra Christian Theological College, Secunderabad (1973-1988) Professor, Gurukul Lutheran Theological College, Chennai (1988-1992) |
| Title | The Reverend Doctor |
Rayi Ratna Sundara Rao (born 1934; died 1992[4]) was a prolific writer, theologian and comparative religion scholar who once was the principal of the Gurukul Lutheran Theological College, Chennai, affiliated to India's first university,[5] the Senate of Serampore College (University).
Some of his writings are kept in digitized versions at the National Library of India[6] and the Indian Institute of Science.[2]
In a 2014 study, Katherine C. Zubko of the University of North Carolina at Asheville highlights that Sundara Rao's assumption of bhakti was a more inward expression for concern for others cutting across religious boundaries.[7] In fact, Sundara Rao's treatise, "Bhakti Theology in the Telugu Hymnal" had struck new ground in finding the origins of the bhakti element in Christian hymns in the Telugu language. The missiologist, Roger E. Hedlund, asserted that along with the Bible, the Christian Hymnal in Telugu also formed the main bulwark of Christian spiritual life for the Telugu folk and of equal use to both the non-literates and the literates as well.[8] In such a setting of the importance of the Telugu Hymnal, Sundara Rao's study reiterated[9] the fact that bhakti had been a binding factor for the early Christians in the Telugu-speaking states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. While this has been so, new studies in 2014 by the Harvard scholars, Ch. Vasantha Rao and John B. Carman indicate that the element of bhakti had little inroad into the otherwise rural India which in their study wholly depended on folk element.[10]
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
SCwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference
Babaluwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
Wisconsinwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Rayi Ministries. Rayi Ratna Ministries
- ^ UNESCO Structures of University Education in India, 1952
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Bhaktiwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Katherine C. Zubko (2014). Dancing Bodies of Devotion: Fluid Gestures in Bharata Natyam. Plymouth: Lexington Books. p. 86. ISBN 9780739187296 – via Google Books.
- ^ Roger E. Hedlund (2000). Quest for Identity: India's Churches of Indigenous origin: The "Little" Tradition in Indian Christianity. Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. p. 261. ISBN 9788172145255 – via Google Books.
- ^ James Elisha Taneti, History of the Telugu Christians: A Bibliography, Scarecrow/ATLA, Toronto, 2011, p.11. [1]
- ^ John B. Carman; Chilkuri Vasantha Rao (2014). Christians in South Indian Villages 1959-2009, Decline and Revival in Telangana. Cambridge: Eerdmans Publishing. pp. 68–71. ISBN 9780802871633 – via Google Books.
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