Alladi Mahadeva Sastry was the first curator of the Oriental Library in 1891, the year it was founded. He was born in May 1861 in Pudur, Nayudupeta, in Nellore District, Andhra Pradesh. He studied Telugu, Sanskrit, and the recitation of the Vedas in his village and passed the Matric at Kurnool High School. He got a BA degree from Presidency College, Madras, in 1883. Swami Vivekananda praised Mahadeva Sastry's treatise on Sri Shankaracharya's classic.In 1916, Mahadeva Sastry was made Director of the Oriental Section of the Adyar Library, a post he retained till his death in 1926.