The Andhra community, under the auspices of the Port Shepstone and District Andhra Sabha, scooped the bulk of the awards and ultimately the composite trophy at the 81st National Telugu Eisteddfod competition hosted by the Andhra Maha Sabha of South Africa ( AMSSA).
The event was held at the Andhra Cultural Centre in Durban recently. Despite being the smallest Andhra Telugu linguistic community, the local group competed against well-established Andhra Sabha organisations and groups from Isipingo, Reservoir Hills, La Mercy, Havenside, Illovo, Pathmajuranni, Andhra Vidhya Sabha, and Andhra Youth Movement of SA.
International participants from the USA, Mauritius and Canada were accommodated online.
Despite facing stiff competition, the Port Shepstone Andhra Sabha was triumphant and were declared the Telugu Eisteddfod Champions for 2024. They placed first in the A-division, third in the Open Division and also scooped the prestigious Good Fellowship Award.
Led by vice-president and cultural convenor Saroj Reddy, a mixed team of adults and youth took part in Telugu language songs, poetry, vernacular sight readings and recitations, and bhajan choir.
Many hours of sacrifice and practice paid off as the team of 16 youths comprising of both boys and girls, aged from six to 13, enthralled and captivated the national judges with their superb musical renditions.
“This was the best-ever performance and achievement of the Port Shepstone Andhra Sabha in its history of National Telugu Eisteddfod competitions. Despite being a minority linguistic group within the Indian community, the local Andhra Telugu community has been propagating its culture strongly. The thunderous applause that the audience gave bore testimony to yet another spectacular and highly successful achievement,” said Reddy.
The Eisteddfod was introduced by AMSSA on August 6, 1939, the first among the Indian linguistic groups to introduce this annual event.
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