Goparaju Ramachandra Rao
| Goparaju Ramachandra Rao | |
|---|---|
| Born |
15 November 1902 Chhatrapur, Odisha, British India |
| Died | 26 July 1975 (aged 72) Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Other names | Gora |
| Known for | social reforms, atheist activism |
| Spouse(s) | Saraswathi Gora |
| Children | 9 |
Goparaju Ramachandra Rao (nickname: Gora) (15 November 1902 – 26 July 1975) was an Indian social reformer, atheist activist and a participant in the Indian independence movement. He authored many books on atheism and proposed atheism as self-confidence. He propagated positive atheism by his articles, speeches, books and his social work. He is the founder of Atheist Centre along with his wife Saraswathi Gora and a few volunteers.
Gora was born on 15 November 1902, into an orthodox Telugu Brahmin family in Chhatrapur, Odisha, India. He pursued a botany degree, eventually earning his Master's in botany at Presidency College in Madras. He married Saraswathi Gora in 1922, when she was only 10. He taught botany at various institutes at Madurai, Coimbatore, Colombo and Kakinada, for fifteen years.
Gora started his activism against superstition in the 1920s. He and his wife publicly viewed solar eclipses, as there was a superstitious belief that pregnant women should not do so. They stayed in haunted houses to dispel the myths about such places.
Gora used to run a monthly programme called "cosmopolitan dinners" every full moon night, where people of all castes and religions gathered together. Gora insisted on staying in a Harijan locality whenever he was invited to address a village. He also conducted several inter-caste and inter-religious marriages. One of his own sons and daughters married spouses from untouchable castes.
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