Unsung Heroes Detail

Pasala Krishnamurthy (1900-78) was from West Vipparru village in the Tadepalligudem taluka of the West Godavari district. He was born on 26 January 1900 to Adiyya and Sitamma. He was married to Anjalakshmi Pasala. When Gandhiji visited Vijayawada in March 1921, Krishnamurthy joined the Congress along with his wife Anjalakshmi. When Gandhiji visited the Ananda Niketan Aashram in Chagallu in 1929, the Krishnamurthy couple, who had a daughter at the time, gave gold to the Khaddar fund. He took part in the Salt Satyagraha movement and on 6 October 1930 he was sentenced to one-year imprisonment at the Rajahmundry and Vellore prisons. He was released on 13 March 1931 as a result of the Gandhi-Irwin pact. He picketed a foreign cloth shop during the Civil Disobedience Movement in Tadepalligudem market and hoisted the national flag on the Bhimavaram sub-collectors office on 26 June 1932. As a result, he was arrested and on 27 June 1932 was sentenced to one year imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 400/- failing which the jail term was to be further extended 12 weeks. He fought for the spread of khadi and the upliftment of Harijans. Krishnamurthy and his wife, Anjalakshmi, constructed a hospital in West Vipparru that benefited many people. Krishnamurthy assisted numerous people not just via his property but also through begging. Following independence, he served as President of the Tadepalligudem Taluka Independent Fighters Association. He declined the government of India's Freedom Fighters' pension. He offered two acres of land in West Vipparru for houses for the Harijans. To commemorate his contributions, the Tadepalligudem municipality erected the Pasala Krishnamurthy Memorial Elementary School. He died on 20 September 1978.