World Telugu Conference

The World Telugu Conference (WTC) is a conference for the furtherance of the Telugu language.^[1] Literary luminaries attend and share their views on spreading and preserving the language and advocating a Telugu language policy.

World Telugu Conference, Stamp of India - 1975 - Saraswati (Goddess of learning) - inscription in Telugu.

History

The first WTC was held in Hyderabad in 1975.^[2] The then Minister of Education, Mandali Venkata Krishna Rao was instrumental in starting it.^[3] The singer M. S. Ramarao made his debut at the conference. It was also attended by Sankarambadi Sundarachari, who penned the anthem "Maa Telugu Thalliki", and the actor-singer Tanguturi Suryakumari who came from London to render the anthem.^[3][1]

The second WTC was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 14–18 April 1981,^[4][5] and the third in December 1990 in Mauritius.^[5]

The fourth Telugu conference was held in Tirupati in December 2012.^[3][6][7] The fifth was held from 15 December 2017 at LB Stadium, Hyderabad, celebrating 40 years of World Telugu Conferences.^[8][9]

List of conferences

Official title	Host city	Host country	Year	Ref.
1st World Telugu Conference	Hyderabad	India	1975	[2]
2nd World Telugu Conference	Kuala Lumpur	Malaysia	1981	[4][5]
3rd World Telugu Conference	Port Louis	Mauritius	1990	[5]
4th World Telugu Conference	Tirupati	India	2012	[3][6]
5th World Telugu Conference	Hyderabad	India	2017	[8][9]
6th World Telugu Conference	Rajamahendravaram	India	2024