often found riding his uncle's horses to distant hilly places and familiarise himself with the various problems being faced by the different tribal people, who were then living under British colonial rule. He was particularly moved by seeing the hardships of the Koyas, a people of hill tribe. Fond of pilgrimage, in 1921 he visited Gangotri and Nashik, birthplaces of the holy rivers—Ganga and Godavari. During his travels in the country, he met various revolutionaries in Chittagong; on seeing the socio-economic conditions of people, particularly those of the tribals, he was severely appalled and decided to build a movement for their independence from British rule. He then settled down in the Papi hills near Godavari District, an area with a high density of tribal people. Sitarama Raju initially practiced various spiritual disciplines to gain moral stature and spiritual powers. During this time, the efforts of Christian missionaries to gain converts by any means amongst the hill tribes annoyed him, as he saw it as a tool perpetuating imperialism. He continued living an austere life with bare minimum needs amongst the tribal people. Taking only items like fruits and honey from them, he would return much of everything offered to him with his blessings. Very soon his charismatic nature gained him a reputation among the tribals of being someone possessed with holy powers, even a messianic status—a reputation that was bolstered both by myths he created about himself, and by his acceptance of ones about him that were established by others, including those concerning his reputed invincibility. Noting the grievances of the tribals and finding solutions to their problems, he started to organise and educate them about their rights, and prepared them for a fight against the oppression and tyranny of the forest and revenue officials, missionaries and police. Touring the forest terrains, he gained extensive knowledge of the geographical features which helped him in his future as a guerrilla warfare tactician. Around this time when the British authorities confiscated their ancestral properties, the Koya tribal brothers, Gam Malludora and Gam Gantamdora, who were freedom fighters, joined the ranks of Rama Raju and became his lieutenants. As the oppressive practices of the British continued to become unbearable and rebellion became the last option for people to live free, Rama Raju became their natural leader. The Government then did try to win him over by offering 60 acres of fertile land for