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).
[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.
[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.
Rao later upgraded his qualifications by pursuing a Bachelor of Divinity degree,[2] awarded by the university, again during the registrarship of Devasahayam.
From 1988 onwards, Sundara Rao accepted a teaching assignment at the Gurukul Lutheran Theological College in Chennai and taught religions.