Krishnasastry Devulapally, one of the greatest romantic poets, was a great humanist that Andhra Pradesh has ever produced.  He was a traditional Brahmin, who believed in freedom of faith and is against forcing one's belief on others, which reflected in his lyric, "temple is everywhere, temple is in everybody.  The light in that temple is God."(aDugaDuguna guDi uMdi, aMdarilo guDi uMdi. A guDilO deepamuMdi, adiyE daivaM).

Krishnasastry was born on Nov 15,1897 in Chandrapalem Village near Pitapuram in West Godavari District. His father was Venakatasastry. Venkatasastry and his brother Subbarayasastry were court poets of king of Pitapuram. They were famous as Devulapally Brothers. Krishnasastry inherited the literary tradition as a hereditary trait and became popular in literary field at a very young age. While doing his BA in Pitapuram King's College in Kakinada,  Krishnasastry started an organization called Sahiti Samithi with the cooperation of his friends. Sahiti Samithi consisted of famous poets like Satyanarayana Viswanatha, Bapiraju Adivi, Subbarao Nanduri, Munimanikyam, Dikshitulu Chinta, Srinivasa Siromani etc. During this time Krishnasastry volunteered in vernacular language movement and Brahmasamajam activities.

Later, Krishnasastry worked as a teacher in Peddapuram and Pitapuram and continued writing poetry. He wrote articles against religious and social superstitions followed in the society in a magazine called Dharma Sadhani. As a result, the king of Pitapuram relieved him from his job. It was a blessing in disguise for Krishnasastry and Telugu people.  He devoted himself to the Telugu literature next ten years.

In 1929, he met Noble Laureate Ravindranath Tagore, and became his favorite. Influenced by Hemachand Sarkar and the like, he worked against superstitions, casteism and encouraged marriages of widows. At this juncture, king of Pitapuram invited him and returned his job in 1933.

In 1943, Krishnasastry went to Chennai (then Madras), the Hollywood of Tamil and Telugu Cinema, and completely involved in literary activities. During this time he wrote many memorable romantic lyrics in movies like. Krishnasastry wrote lyrics for many movies.  Some of them are listed here: sukhadukhalu, Ekaveera, maayanimamata, kathaanaayika molla, sipaayi cinnayya, celleli kaapuraM, viMta katha, aaDajanma, amma maaTa, jagatkilaadeelu, jagatjeTTeelu, kaalaM maariMdi, saMpoorNaramaayaNaM, kalyaNa maMDapaM, bhakta tukaaraaM, vijayaM manadE, maMciroajulu vaccaayi, akhaMDuDu, vaaDE veeDu,  nEramu Siksha, raamuDE dEvuDu, dhanavaMtulu - guNavaMtulu, jeevitaaSayaM, amma manasu, maTTilO maaNikyaM, ceekaTi velugulu, balipeeThaM, saMghaM maaraali, idekkaDi nyaayaM, illEswargaM, samaadhi kaDutunnaaM caMdaalivvaMDi, eenaaTi baMdhaM EnaaTidO, annadammula katha, Sree vaasavi kanyakaaparamEswari mahaatyamu, sannaayi appanna, Sree tirupati vEMkaTa kalyaaNaM, gOriMTaaku, kaarteekadeepaM, amerikaa ammaayi, seetaamaalakshmi, iMTiMTi katha, baMgaarakka, Sree vianaayaka vijayaM, Sree raama paTTaabhishEkaM, naamaala taatayya, maavoori gaMga, bhadrakaaLi, mEghasaMdESam, vastaaDe maabaava, maayaavi, raakshasuDu, malleeSvari, naa yillu, raajee naa praaNaM, aakali, taMDri, baMgaarupaapa, bhaagyarEkha,  raajaguruvu, poojaaphalaM, kaartavaraayani katha, raajamakuTam, bhakta Sabari, sukhaduhkhaalu, uMDammaa boTTu peDataa, amaayakuDu, DaakTar aanaMd, kalasina manasulu, baMgaarupaMjaramu, baMgaarutalli, etc.  The lyrics from these movies were compiled into two volumes named Megahamala and Gorimta by Orient Longman publishers.

His famous works include krishnapakshamu, mahathi, vipranaaraayaaNa caritra, maaLavikaagnimitramu, ksheerasaagaramadhanamu, mukhalingaM, kanneeru, pallaki, pushpalaavikalu, Sarmishta, dhanurdhanu, tiruppaavu, mEghamaala, rigvEdi, bahukaLaadarsanam, appuduputtivuMTE?, amruthaveena, kaviparaMpara, mahaavyaktulu, maMgalakahali etc.

He also served as a producer at Hyderabad public radio and produced many sketches.
Krishnasastry received many awards such as Kalaprapurna in 1975, Padma Bhushan in 1976, Sahitya Akademi (India's national academy of letters) Award in 1978. He left this world for heavenly abode on 24th February, 1980 leaving behind his unforgettable literary works.

---