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Telangana's 'Mana Ooru Mana Charitra' project reconnects students to their villages, inspiring them to explore their history, culture, and traditions. Through this project, students are learning more than just history and geography, as they gain shared experiences and emotional connections.

Kadakanchi, a village in Sangareddy district in Telangana, about 70 km from the State Capital Hyderabad, was unknown to many until its uniqueness was ‘discovered’ through documentation. Interviews with people in the village of a 3,000-odd population reveal that pilgrims who couldn’t afford to visit Kanchi Peetham in Tamil Nadu made their pilgrimage to this village to worship.

A word about Cheryal, a historic village in the Siddipet district, 120 km from Hyderabad, known for a traditional art form called Nakashi, hasn’t travelled far enough to find a place in the history books, despite the art being popular. Now, both the process of the art and the approximately a hundred people who practice it are being documented.

In the midst of the paddy green fields, Vattimarthy village, about 140 km away from the State Capital, saw the Telangana Armed Struggle against the Nizam’s dynastic rule. Standing under the huge Tamarind tree, it’s difficult to imagine how the village reverberated with the youth leading the fight.

The present generation is losing touch with its history, but the Telangana Sahitya Academy is documenting it under its project titled ‘Mana Ooru Mana Charitra’ – ‘Our Village Our History’.

Students of State-run government colleges will document the historical, cultural, and traditional facets of Telangana’s 12,769 villages. The academy reconnected students to their own villages to tap into that emotional quotient. Students from various degree colleges in Telangana are now intertwined with this exercise.

Students document their findings as project reports, with some colleges offering them academic credits for their undergraduate degree courses. But the learnings go beyond just history and geography.

Some students work in teams, and this leads to shared experiences. When P. Chetan Kumar, P. Sai Teja, and P. Suresh, who study at Government City College, Hyderabad, visited Kodakanchi, they found they could discuss themes they had never considered before.