Kaloji Narayana Rao (Telugu: పద్మ విభూషణ్ శ్రీ కాలోజీ నారాయణ రావు) (9 September 1914 - 13 November 2002) more popularly known as Kaloji or Kalanna is a great Telangana poet, freedom fighter and a political activist. He hails from Madikonda(Manigiri), a village near Kazipet, Warangal. He was awarded Padma Vibhushan in 1992 by Government of India for his great contributions to Telugu/Telangana Literature. Kaloji is popularly known as Praja Kavi, meaning "people's poet". He started writing poetry right from his early school days. He composed his first poem in 1931 while still in his teens, reacting emotionally to the execution of Bhagat Singh and very soon became a prominent writer and voracious reader. His writings include Na Godava, a compilation of his poems in eight volumes, short stories and translations. The Telugu poet Sri Dasaradhi called it ' a running commentary on contemporary history'. It is essentially the poetry of dissent and an eloquent testimony to his concern for reform and courage to revolt. His other notable literary works are ' Kaloji Kathalu', 'Thudi Vijayam Manadi Jayam', 'Parthiva Vyavam' and 'Telangana Udyama Kavithalu', and translations entitled 'Na Bharata Desha Yatra' and 'Jeevana Geetha'. He also wrote extensively in Marathi, English, Urdu and Hindi. He also translated many literary works from other languages to Telugu.
Kaloji was conferred the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest award given by the Government of India, for his service in the literary and social fields. He is a recipient of Tamrapatra in 1972. He received the best translation award of the Andhra Pradesh Government for his work 'Jeevana Geetha' in 1968 and Burgula Ramakrishna Rao memorial first award. He was felicitated by the Andhra Pradesh Government in 1981. He was honored with the title 'Praja Kavi' and has been felicitated by various literary associations of Andhra Pradesh. He was conferred the Honorary Doctorate by the Kakatiya University, Warangal in 1992 for his contributions in the field of literature.
