Today, the name of Shri Gudampalli Pulla Reddy is known as ‘Modern Bhamashah’ (who donated his wealth to Rana Pratap for struggle against moughals) since he too donated his wealth for the welfare of Hindu community. He was born on January 1, 1921 at Gokavaram villege of Andhra’s Karnool district in a poor family.
G. Pulla Reddy was a philanthropist and a humanist from Andhra Pradesh, Bharat, Well-known the world over as a sweet maker, Pulla Reddy began his life on a humble note. He used to move around on a bicycle to sell the sweets prepared by his wife, in his native village Gokavaram in Kurnool district. In 1948, he opened a small sweet shop in Kurnool town. Gradually, Pulla Reddy earned fame for the quality of his sweets. In 1954, he became the official sweet supplier to Raj Bhavan and went on to set up a chain of sweet shops in Hyderabad, Kurnool and even other parts of the country. G. Pullareddy began selling his sweets in 1948, when aged 28, using a small cart. The business grew, spreading from the lanes of Kurnool to eventually encompass four shops in Bharat. He opened shops in many US cities, including New York, California and Charlotte.
He became an RSS Sangh Chalak in 1974. He established the ‘Pulla Reddy Charitable Trust’ in 1975. In 1980, he became the state President of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). In the same year, he established ‘Samskrita Bhasha Prachara Samiti’ for the propagation of Sanskrit. He founded the G Pulla Reddy College of Engineering & Technology in Kurnool and started G. Narayanamma Institute of Technology and Science in Hyderabad.Besides establishing a number of colleges in Hyderabad and Kurnool, Pulla Reddy also set up ‘Vignana Peeth,’ a school for sheltering and educating orphaned children. The Udipi Pezhavar Mutt decorated Pulla Reddy with ‘Danaguna Bhushana’ title in 1991. He was also honoured with the ”Jamnalal Bajaj Award,” the next year for honesty in business. His son, G. Raghava Reddy, succeeds him in the Vishva Hindu Parishad, presently serving as its International President. He died on 9 May 2007.
