History of Chemuturi family to the best of our knowledge.


We are Hindu Brahmin family belonging to the Aruvela Niyogi sect. We are Sarma (Sharma) type of Brahmins (Others are Sastry type)

Our mother tongue is Telugu.

Our Gothram is Harithasa Rishis are Harithasa, Ambarisha and Yavanasva .

Our Veda Sakha is Yajurveda - Sutram is - Aapasthamba

Our sect of Brahmins were traditionally missters, administrators and army generals in the courts of earstwhile kings.

Our history, as I was given to understand began in Orugallu - presently Warangal in Andhra Pradesh State of India.

We were in the Army of Kakatiya rulers as commanders.

After their fall, we moved to coastal areas of Andhra's present Krishna Delta.

We were appointed as village officers by the Vijayanagara Rulers and we moved to Godavari Delta - present West Godavari District. For the preceding five generations - that is up to my grand father Chemuturi Bapi Raju, we were the village officers of the village of Chityala. My father worked as Village Officer of Chityala for some time and then worked as Village Officer (Karanam) of Cherukumilli Village

We are there for the last five generations. The present generation is moving from West Godavari to whatever locations, their vocation is carrying them to.

We are in Hyderabad, USA, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Bangalore to the best of my knowledge.

The earliest forefather known to me is Chemuturi Venkata Ramayya . He married Atchamma. He had two sons Surapa Raju ( my ancestor) and Bangarayya. Bangarayya had a son Prakasam. Prakasam had one son thru his wife Maha Lakshamma, VEnkata Ramayya. Venkata Ramayya married twice ( loss of first wife) - Kamamma and Gavaramma. He had a son - Prakasam- and a daughter Kamamma. Prakasam married Rajamma and had two sons - Rama Rao (Sri Rama Yogi) and Ayyapa Raju (died young) and two daughters Gavaramma (married into Nanduri Family) and kamamma (married into Talla Pragada family). Rama Rao had adopted a son from Nanduri family - Prakasa Rayudu. His descendents live in a village - Vella Chintala Gudem near to our village Chityala.

My Ancestor Chemuturi Surapa Raju . He had five sons through his wife Subbamma - Perraju ( died issueless - wife Gangamma), Pallayya, Veerraju, Sarraju (my great grand father) and lakshmi Pathi. Lakshmi Pathi married four times - Gangamma, Subbamma, Moorthamma and Venkamma (also known as Bulli ammayi). Veerraju married Kanakamma and had one son - Chinna Subbayya and three daughters - Bapanamma, Moorthamma, and Sooramma(married into Pandravada family). Chinna Subbayya married Ramanamma and had two sons Veerraju and Rama Rao. Veerraju married Aademma and had one son Veera Venkata Subba Rao who married Ramanamma. Rama Rao(Ramayya) married Sooramma and was issueless. His wife adopted Venkata Subbarao. Subbayya married Somamma and had two sona - Pallam Raju and Ganga Raju (died issueless - married Rama Lakshmi and Veera Bhadram) - and two daughters - enkamma (married Palakodeti Nara Simham - son of her aunt Venkamma. and Aademma. Pallam Raju married Venkamma and had one son - Ammi Raju - and three daughters - Somamma, Bhaskaramma and Ganga. Ammi Raju married Gopala Rathnam and had three sons - Sri Rama Uma Maheswara Rao, Viswa Sundaram and Sri Hari Rao - and a daughter Sri Maha Lakshmi. Sri Maha Lakshmi married Pindiprolu Rama Chandra Rao and lives in Visakha Patnam.

My Great Grand Father Chemuturi Sarraju . Sarraju married Ramamma. Sarraju had one son - Bapi Raju (my grand father) - and two daughters - Bapanamma (married Gandrapu Peda Pantulu of Polavaram) and Subbamma (married Rebba Pragada Vasu Demudu of Tirugudu Metta). There is a legend about his bravery. It is said that one day he was in a field cutting grass - which was tall - with a sickle for cows to feed. Then suddenly a tiger attacked him. Others who were with him ran off leaving him alone. He fought the tiger with the sickle in his hand for some time. In the mean while, others came with loud noise making drums and fire torches and the tiger ran away. He lost some flesh on his left arm but lived on to tell the tale.

His son is Chemuturi Bapi Raju . Bapi Raju married Lakshmi Narasamma and had two sons Satya Narayana and Appa Rao (my father) and one daughter - Seetha Rama Subbamma ( married Nedunuri Venkata Ramayya pantulu of Venkataya Palem. My grand mother Srimathi Lakshmi Narasamma comes from the illustrious Palakodeti family – the real one – from Anna Devara Peta village, which is three miles from my village.

Bapi Raju had three surviving children - two sons and a daughter.

The daughter is Seetharama Subbamma , married into the Nedunuri family She was married to Nedunuri Venkata Ramayya .
She had two sons Veera Venkata Sambasiva Rao and Venkata Bapiraju .
She had three daughters, namely, Seetha Ravamma , Alivelu and Surya Kamala .

Chemuturi Bapi Raju's eldest son is Satyanarayana . He had six children in all - two sons - Ramachandra Venkata Krishna Rao and Veera Venkata Satyanarayana . His daughters are - Seetha Maha Lakshmi , Venkata Ramana , Lakshmi Narasamma and Adi Lakshmi .Satya narayana worked as the Thanedar (Station House Officer) for the Zamindar of Anna Devara Peta till 1948 and retired after Zamindars were abolished by the independent Indian Government. He was a scholar and was a practitioner of Homeopathic medicine. His patients came from far off villages. They used to come for many years even after his death. He was also a expet astologer of Vedic system. He knew quite a bit of veda and was able to recite them in a scholarly manner. He was elected as President of our village 3 times in a row and was in office for a period of 12 years. He was a man of upright character and was unafraid to confront rivh and the mighty. Corrupt politicians were afraid to enter our village so long as he was alive.

Second son of Chemuturi Bapi Raju - Venkata Appa Rao – my father. My father was a hard working man. I learnt the virtue of hard work and integrity from him. He was not very scholarly as his elder brother was but more industrious. I worked along side him in our paddy fields and other agricultural works. When I look back on those days, I still can smell the aroma of his sweaty body.He worked like that till was seventy years of age. He had to as we are the children of his second wife whom he married at a late age of 35 years and his last child was born when he was 55 years of age. But he never complained - he slogged on. What he taught me by personal example the concept of duty and fulfilling it.

I am his second son and my name is Murali Krishna . I started as an diploma holder of electrical engineering, I studied part time while working to complete a degree in Industrial Engineering, a PG Diploma in Computers and MBA. For my achievements, you may visit my professional site

My mother's name is Vijaya Lakshmi . and she comes from Chintapenta family hailing from East Godavari District's Kona Seema Region. She had two sisters - Durgamba married to Kovvali Venkata Ramana of Tanuku, West Godavari District and - Satya Vathi married to Ivaturi Pattisa Veera Bhadram of Saripella, West Godavari District. She had two brothers – Venkata Ramana and Bapi Raju . Venkata Ramana worked in the Irrigation Department and then with Birla group Company Tunga Bhadra Industries till retirement. He settled in Hyderabad. He was a learned man and helped all his siblings come up in life. He had three sons, Venkata Rao, Ramachandra Rao and Hari Prasad and two daughters – Surya Kumari and Indira . Bapi Raju worked in the Defence Accounts Department of the Central Government of India and settled in Hyderabad. He married my aunt Satyavathi's fiorst daughter Bhanu . They had two sons - Rama Rao and Srinivas - and one daughter – Santa

I have two brothers and three sisters.

My elder brother is Veerabhadra Rao and younger brother is Venkata Ramana .

My elder sister is Bharati , first younger sister is Lakshmi and the youngest sister is I ndira .

My wife is Udaya Sundari and she comes from Chengalvala family hailing from Bhimavaram region of West Godavari District. Her parents were - Suryanarayana and mother - Sehagiri. She has six brothers and 3 sisters. She is a post-graduate in English Literature in addition to bachelors in Education. She worked as a teacher for some time but now she devotes her time to take care of the family.

I have two sons namely Nagendra Venkata Appa Rao and Vijaya Ravi Sekhar .

Nagendra completed PhD in pharmaceutics from the university of Iowa, USA and is working as a Scientist in Dallas, Texas of USA. Nagendra is married to Chi. Sarada D/O of Shri Kaligotla Venkata Ramana Murthy of Hyderabad. She is MCA, PMP and works as Project Manager in Dallas. His research work is published as a book by VDM Verlag Dr. Müller, a Geran publisher of scientific books. Nagendra and Sarada are blesxsed with a son on 27th October, 2010 named as Sesha Krishna Dattatreya

Ravi completed MBA from Scranton University, USA, CPA (Certified Public Accountant) and CFA (Certified Fraud Analyst) and is working as Manager in KPMG, New York. Ravi Married Chi. Laxmi Madhavi D/O Shri Kotamraju Hrudaya and Smt. Padmavathi. They both live in Avenel city of New Jersey presently. Ravi and Laxmi are blessed with a son on 1st may, 2010, named Jagat Krishna.

The eldest of my siblings is Veerabhadra Rao . He is a graduate in Sciences from Osmania University and a graduate in Education from Andhra University. He worked as a teacher in the Zilla Parishad schools of West Godavari and took voluntary retirement as Head Master of ZP High School at Malakapalli in West Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh. He married the daughter of Nedunuri Venkata Bapiraju, mentioned above - her name is Seetharama Subba Lakshmi . They have two children - a daughter, Padmaja and a son Vijaya Kumar. Presently Veerabhadra Rao is settled in our native place Chityala in West Godavari District but frequently travels to his children's places of residence.

Padmaja is married to Poduri Krishna Mohan , son of my sister Bharathi mentioned above. Krishna Mohan is in the armed forces, presently with the rank of Major. They have two daughters, namely, Vaishnavi and Bhargavi . Both are studying in the primary school.

Vijaya Kumar studied MCA (Master of Computer Applications) from Utkal University at Bhubaneshwar in the Orissa state of India. He is working as an IT Consultant in the Tata Consultancy Services at Hyderabad. He is married into the Poduri family - daughter of Poduri Venkata Ramana Rao. His wife is Madhavi , a Graduate Engineer. They are blessed with two female children - Sai Sanjana - born in USA in 2002.

My younger brother, Venkata Ramana he is the youngest in the family, studied upto tenth class and is working in Southern Pesticides Corporation at Kovvur in West Godavari District. He is married into Kallakuri family hailing from Bhimavaram region of west Godavari District. his wife is Lakshmi Narasamma . They have two children - daughter Haritha and son - Pavan . They are both studying in college.

The eldest of my female siblings is Bharati - she studied PUC(pre-Univeristy Course) and was married into the Poduri family hailing from Kovvur in West Godavari District. Her husband Poduri Haranadha Rao worked in Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited at Bhopal and retired as Dy General manager - Finance from Jhansi plant. He expired in 1997. They have three sons.

The eldest one is Krishna Mohan . He was admitted into Indian Military Academy and is presently a Major in the Armed Forces. He is married to the daughter, Padmaja mentioned above, of my elder brother Veerabhadra Rao . He has two daughters Vaishnavi and Bhargavi - both are studying in the primary school.

The second son is Vijaya Saradhi - he studied Mining Engineering from IT-BHU of Varanasi and then obtained PhD in Astro-physics from Lousiana Univerity at Baton Rouge, USA. He married a Hindi-speaking girl, Vibha Pant , hailing from Varanasi and who also obtained PhD from the same univerisyt in the same discipline. They have a son - Gautam - and a daughter - Aditi . They live in San Fransisco, USA. He now works for Barra Inc. in San Fransisco in their IT department.

The youngest is Chandra Sekhar . He graduated in Science from Bundelkhand University at Jhansi and is working as Medical Representative for Nicholas Piramal at Kakinada in East Godavari District. He is married into Marella family hailing from Brahma Puram, presently in Orissa state of Andhra Pradesh. His wife, Lakshmi , is a qualified Lawyer. They have a daughter - Veda Bharati and a son - Harsh .

My younger sister is Lakshmi . She studied upto school finals and is married into the Alamuru family hailing from Rajahmundry of East Godavari District. Her husband Alamuru Satya Subrahmanya Lakshmi Narayana Murthy was a Gazzetted Officer with the State Government of Andhra Pradesh. They have two daughters - Soujanya - an IT consultant working in  USA and second daughter is  Vandana - she is married to Sharat who was working in a Singapore based shipping company as Chief Engineer - Marine. He now shifted to USA. She completed MBA at Florida in USA. Lakshmi lives in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh.

My youngest sister is Indira . She completed MA in English Leterature from Osmania University. She is married into the Pulagurthi family hailing from Ramachandra Puram in East Godavari District. Her Husband, Pulagurthi Ramakrishna Swami , works as an Officer in the State bankof India. They have two daughters - Poornima - just completed MBA from Osmania University and - Vijaya Lakshmi - pursuing MCA from Osmania University. Poornima is married to Nagulapati Raj Kiran , software working in USA – Virginia state. Indira lives in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. Vijaya Lakshmi is married to Shri Sudhakar and they live in USA.

My mother, Vijaya Lakshmi shuttles between all her children. Though she does not posses a formally high academic qualification, she is an erudite scholar in the traditional form of education and is highly knowledgeable in all the religious texts. She is an avid story teller who holds her audiences spell bound. She won second prize twice on the Television (DD8) competition - Padyala Toranam. She is in good health.

This is updated on 5th October 2011