Gurajada Venkata Apparao (21 September 1862 – 30 November 1915) was an Indian playwright, dramatist, poet, and writer known for his works in Telugu theatre.

[3][4] One of the pioneers of Indian theatre, Apparao holds the titles Kavisekhara and Abyudaya Kavitha Pithamahudu.

[9][10] In 1897, Kanyasulkam was published (by Vavilla Ramaswamy Sastrulu and Sons, Madras) and dedicated to Maharaja Ananda Gajapati.

Gundukurti Venkata Ramanayya, editor of the "Indian Leisure Hour", encouraged Apparao greatly during the same period.

[9][10] Gurajada was born in a Hindu family of Niyogi Brahmin caste[12] on 21 September 1862 at his maternal uncle's home in Rayavaram village, near Yelamanchili, Anakapalli district.

classes several subjects including English Grammar, Sanskrit Literature, Translation, Greek and Roman Histories.

The same year, Gurajada and his friends started the Andhra Sahitya Parishat to promote use of spoken dialects.

The next year, he was invited to attend the meeting of the Bangeeya Sahitya Parishat (Bengal Literary Association) at Calcutta.

[9][10] Kanyasulkam is about the deplorable condition of widows in traditional Brahmin families in the Andhra region of India during the 19th century.

Gurajada Apparao was deeply troubled by the double standards, hypocrisy and social inequalities in the Indian society.

Perhaps for the first time in Telugu literary history, a prostitute was given a very positive image so much so that she is shown to better the lives of many people during the course of the play.

It frequently jabs at the male-dominated society of India, by bringing to the forefront certain egoistic idiosyncrasies of a typical Indian male, in an unflattering manner.

Incidentally, this Srinivasa Iyengar was a well-known lawyer and was the President of AICC (All India Congress Committee) annual session at Guwahati in 1926.