Introduction
Venkataraman Raghavan (1908–1979) was a Sanskrit scholar and musicologist. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including the Padma Bhushan and the Sahitya Akademi Award for Sanskrit, and authored over 120 books and 1200 articles.
Sanskrit
He authored several books on music and on aesthetics in Sanskrit .
In 1963, he edited and translated Bhoja's Śṛṅgāra-prakāśa, a treatise in 36 chapters dealing with both poetics and dramaturgy, and the largest known work in Sanskrit poetics. For this work and his commentary, he won the Sahitya Akademi Award for Sanskrit in 1966. He was awarded the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship in 1969. It was later published as volume 53 of the Harvard Oriental Series in 1998.
He translated into Sanskrit Rabindranath Tagore first drama, Valmiki Pratibha, which deals with the transformation of Valmiki from a bandit into a poet.
He discovered and edited an ancient Sanskrit play, Udatta Raghavam by Mayuraja.
He founded an organisation, Samskrita Ranga in 1958, that deals with Sanskrit theatre and has enacted Sanskrit plays.
He was known both for his command of primary texts and for making them accessible through his articles and commentaries.
Music
As a musicologist, he specialized in Carnatic music. He was the secretary of the Music Academy, Madras from 1944 until his death. A "Dr. V. Raghavan Research Centre" has since been named after him.
Legacy
On his birth centenary, celebrations were held in August 2008. A book Smriti Kusumanjali was released, compiling tributes to him on his 60th birthday from personalities including then-president Dr. S. Radhakrishnan and vice-president V. V. Giri.
Personal life
His daughter, Nandinee Ramani, is an art critic.