The question of widow remarriage, which occupied an important place in the social reform movement, was hotly debated in colonial Andhra. Women joined the debate in the early twentieth century. There was a conservative section of women, which bitterly opposed the widow remarriage movement and attacked the social reformers, both women and men. Pulugruta Lakshmi Narasamamba led this group of women. Lakshmi Narasamamba treated widow remarriage (punarvivaham) with contempt and termed it as an affront to the fidelity (pativratyam) of Hindu women. According to her, widow remarriage was equal to ‘prostitution’, and the widows who married again could not be granted the status of kulanganas (respectable or chaste women). Lakshmi Narasamamba’s stand on the question of widow remarriage led to the emergence of a fiery and protracted controversy among women which eventually led to the division of the most famous women’s organization, the Shri Vidyarthini Samajamu. She opposed not only widow remarriage but also post-puberty marriage and campaigned in favour of child marriage. This article describes the whole debate on the widow remarriage question that took place among women. It is based on the primary sources, especially the woefully neglected women’s journals in the Telugu language.

寡妇再婚问题在社会改革运动中占有重要地位，在安得拉殖民地引起了激烈的辩论。妇女参加了20世纪初的辩论。妇女中有一个保守派，他们强烈反对寡妇再婚运动，并袭击了男女的社会改革者。普卢格鲁塔（Pulugruta Lakshmi）纳拉萨曼巴（Narasamamba）领导了这批妇女。拉克希米·纳拉萨曼巴（Lakshmi Narasamamba）轻蔑地对待寡妇再婚（punarvivaham），并称其为对印度教妇女的忠诚（pativratyam）的侮辱。根据她的说法，寡妇再婚等同于“卖淫”，再次结婚的寡妇无法获得kulanganas（可敬或贞洁的妇女）的身份。拉克希米·纳拉萨曼巴（Lakshmi Narasamamba）在寡妇再婚问题上的立场导致妇女之间激烈而旷日持久的争论的出现，最终导致了最著名的妇女组织什里·维迪亚蒂尼·萨马哈（Shri Vidyarthini Samajamu）的分裂。她不仅反对寡妇再婚，而且反对青春期后的婚姻，并竞选支持童婚。本文介绍了关于妇女丧偶再婚问题的整个辩论。它基于主要来源，尤其是泰卢固语中被严重忽视的女性杂志。本文介绍了关于妇女丧偶再婚问题的整个辩论。它基于主要来源，尤其是泰卢固语中被严重忽视的女性杂志。本文介绍了关于妇女丧偶再婚问题的整个辩论。它基于主要来源，尤其是泰卢固语中被严重忽视的女性杂志。