Avadhanam

Avadhānaṃ requires a talent for memorisation, intellect, an extensive knowledge of Indian poetry, prosody and performance skills.

[3] Several of the tasks require creating a four line poem that conforms to chandas or metre, the basic rhythm of verse.

This process continues, sometimes over several days until the performer makes a mistake and is disqualified or is able to recite his entire poem of four lines.

Furthermore, one of the questioners may be made responsible for setting tasks for aprastuta-prasangam or "extraneous speech-making" (in essence, "gift of the gab").

Other less commonly performed avadhana include chitravadhanam (painting), nrutyāvadhānaṃ (dancing), gaṇitāvadhānaṃ (mathematics) and netrāvadhānaṃ (dexterity of eye movements).

Tirupati Venkata Kavulu mentored Viswanatha Satyanarayana (1895 - 1976), a Jnanpith Award winner (for contribution to literature), Subbanna Satavadhani and Paada Subrahmany Sastry.

Shrimad Rajchandra (1867 - 1901) , also known as Param Krupalu Dev, was a Gujarati Jain poet and shatavadhani whose skills impressed Mahatma Gandhi.

It is seen as record breaking and an exemplar of several forms of poetry such as seesa padya, champakamala, sardulam, mattebhavikriditha, and thetageetha.

The subjects of poetry included untouchability, AIDs, women's power, the internet, computers, students and so on.

[9] Gadiyaram Ramakrishna Sarma (1919 - 2006) was a poet, social reformer and independence advocate from Alampur, Andhra Pradesh performed avadhaanam.

Perala Bharata Sarma was a late 20th century academic in the field of Sanskrit literature who performed ashtavadhanams.

Rallabandi Kavitha Prasad (1961 - 2015) was a director of the department of culture in Andhra Pradesh performed many avadhanams of various types and developed the vidya form.

Prasad wrote an anthology of modern poetry titled ontari poola butta and books including Kadambini.

Madakasira Krishna Prabhavathi is a Telugu author who was a principal at the Government Railway Junior College in Guntakal.

Other contemporary Telugu adhavanis include, Madugula Nagaphani Sarma, Amudala Murali, Vaddiparti Padmakar (a tribhasha sahasravadhani who is multilingual), Kadimella Vara Prasad, Gannavaram Lalit Aditya (a Vasma Foundation Yuvasiromani Award winner from the United States), Bulusu Aparna (a sanskrit teacher in Tirumala), and Dorbhala Prabhakara Sarma.

[19] Pandit Sudhakar Kallurkar, an avadhani from the Uttarhadi Hindu monastery performed for Satyatma Tirtha (b.

Gundibailu Subrahmanya Bhat from Udupi, is a scholar of the vedanta philosophy and has achieved a vidwath certification in Hindu classical voice.

Kumar is the author of the cosmology texts including The Enigma of the Universe and Vishva Prahelika in Hindi.

[27] In 2012, in Mumbai, Sagar demonstrated the dvishatavadhana, hearing 200 questions including puzzles, names of objects, places and persons, Sanskrit shlokas, factual and philosophical questions, foreign language words and complex mathematical problems with closed eyes.