113-500: Ashtadiggajas ( Telugu : అష్టదిగ్గజులు) is the collective title given to the eight great Telugu scholars and poets in the court of Emperor Krishnadevaraya , who ruled the Vijayanagara Empire from 1509 until his death in 1529. During his reign, Telugu literature and culture reached its zenith. In his imperial court, these eight poets were regarded as the eight pillars of his literary assembly. The age of Ashtadiggajas
226-735: A Prakrit dialect without exception. Some reverse coin legends are in Telugu and Tamil languages. The period from the 4th century CE to 1022 CE marks the second phase of Telugu history, following the Andhra Ikshvaku period. The first long inscription entirely in Telugu, dated to 575 CE, is attributed to the Renati Choda king Dhanunjaya and found in the Kadapa district . An early Telugu label inscription, "tolacuwānḍru" (తొలచువాండ్రు; transl. rock carvers or quarrymen ),
339-407: A brief description of the writer, a history of the king to whom the book is dedicated, and a chronological list of the books he published. In addition, historical information is available from inscriptions that can be correlated with the poems; there are several grammars, treatises, and anthologies that provide illustrative stanzas; and there is also information available from the lives of the poets and
452-528: A celebrated character called Nigama Sarma akka (sister of Nigama Sarma) and a story about her without giving her a name. He also had written many Chatuvu (extempore poems). Kasula Purushottama Kavi was a Telugu poet who lived during the late 18th century ( fl. CE 1798 ). He hailed from the Diviseema area of Krishna District , Andhra Pradesh and was a court poet of the then- Raja of Challapalli , Yarlagadda Ankineedu Prasad I (r. 1792–1819) of
565-453: A command over the Telugu language, alongside Sanskrit , Tamil , Meitei , Oriya , Persian , or Arabic , is highly appreciated and respected for learning dances (most significantly Indian Classical Dances ) as dancers could have the tools of these languages to go into the primary material texts. Telugu is natively spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and Yanam district of Puducherry . Telugu speakers are also found in
678-420: A decadent age. Of the dozens of works of the eighteenth- to mid-nineteenth century, Kankanti Paparaju's Uttara Ramayana in campu style, and the play Vishnumayavilasa stand out. Other genres bloomed at the same time. Yakshaganas , indigenous dramas of song and prose, were also produced. Garlapati Tenali Ramakrishna ( Telugu : గార్లపాటి తెనాలి రామకృష్ణ ), popularly known as Tenali Rama and Vikata Kavi,
791-479: A different pattern. The period of modern Telugu literature began with Gurajada Apparao , who changed the face of Telugu poetry with his Muthayala Saralu , and was perfected by later writers in the Romanticism era including Rayaprolu and Devulapalli Krishna Sastri . Gurajada's attempt to reform Telugu poetry by shedding old rules and styles reached a zenith with Sri Sri . SriSri's famous work "Maha Prastanam"
904-407: A dual work that describes both Ramayana and Mahabharata . Ramarajabhushanudu wrote Kavyalankarasangrahamu , Vasucharitramu and Harischandranalopakhyanamu . Tenali Ramakrishna wrote Udbhataradhya Charitramu , Panduranga Mahatmyamu, and Ghatikachala Mahatmyamu. Telugu literature reached its peak during their period. A new style called prabandha with added fiction and few omissions from
1017-441: A good memory and tests a person's capability of performing multiple tasks simultaneously. All the tasks are memory-intensive and demand an in-depth knowledge of literature, and prosody. The number of Prucchakas can be eight (for Ashtavadhanam ) or 100 ( Sataavadhaanam ) or even 1,000 (for Sahasravadhanam ). A person who has successfully performed Ashtavadhanam is called Ashtavadhani , one completing Shatavadhanam
1130-477: A handful of Telugu inscriptions in the Kakatiya era between 1135 CE and 1324 CE. Andhra is characterised as having its own mother tongue, and its territory has been equated with the extent of the Telugu language. The equivalence between the Telugu linguistic sphere and the geographical boundaries of Andhra is also brought out in an eleventh-century description of Andhra boundaries. Andhra, according to this text,
1243-415: A lot to Veena Dhanammal and T. Brinda , who popularised Kshetrayya's songs with their beautiful musical interpretation. Kshetrayya's padyams now form an integral part of the dance and musical traditions of South India, where his songs are rendered purely as musical works or as accompaniments to dance. A prose translation by Kaluve Veera Raju which appeared hundred years later (ca 1700) had good success. He
SECTION 10
#17327835683951356-530: A metaphor, denoting the yearning of jeeva (usually depicted as the Nayaki) to unite with the divine (usually depicted as the man). In most of his compositions, Kshetrayya has used the mudra (signature) "Muvva Gopala" as a reference to himself, which is also a name for Krishna in Kshetrayya's village Muvva, now called as Movva . Kshetrayya's work has played a major role in influencing poetry, dance, music of
1469-498: A poet and Yogi. So high was the regard for Vemana that a popular Telugu saying goes 'Vemana's word is the word of the Vedas '. He is celebrated for his style of Chaatu padyam , a poem with a hidden meaning. Many lines of Vemana's poems are now colloquial phrases of the Telugu language. They end with the signature line Viswadhaabhi Raama, Vinura Vema , literally Beloved of Viswadha, listen Vema . There are many interpretations of what
1582-681: A pupil of Tikkana. If we assume that the Sumati Shatakam was indeed written by Baddena, it would rank as one of the earliest Shatakams in Telugu along with the Vrushadhipa Shatakam of Palkuriki Somanatha and the Sarveshwara Shatakam of Yathavakkula Annamayya. The Sumatee Shatakam is also one of the earliest Telugu works to be translated into a European language, as C. P. Brown rendered it in English in
1695-726: A social pastime. Most of these poems have memorable stories that go along with them that explain and contextualize them. They have passed through a lively oral tradition for hundreds of years, and been anthologized since the 19th century by scholars like Veturi Prabhakara Sastri . Many chatus are attributed to Srinatha , Tenali Rama , and other famous poets. These attributions, most of which are unverifiable, serve to make both mythologize these poets and judge their relative merit. Once made legends, they're free to interact anachronistically in chatus . Poets from different eras meet, exchange poems, and critique each other. In sum, chatus, "moving from gnomic advice to metalinguistic criticism, through
1808-451: A thousand years. Pavuluri Mallana 's Sāra Sangraha Ganitamu ( c. 11th century ) is the first scientific treatise on mathematics in any Dravidian language. Avadhānaṃ , a literary performance that requires immense memory power and an in-depth knowledge of literature and prosody , originated and was specially cultivated among Telugu poets for over five centuries. Roughly 10,000 pre-colonial inscriptions exist in Telugu. In
1921-933: Is Tirumala of the Telugu ation. Telugu place names are present all around Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Common suffixes are - ooru, -pudi, -padu, -peta, -pattanam, -wada, - gallu, -cherla, -seema, -gudem, -palle, -palem, -konda, -veedu, -valasa, -pakam, -paka, -prolu, -wolu, -waka, -ili, -kunta, -parru, -villi, -gadda, -kallu, -eru, -varam,-puram,-pedu and - palli . Examples that use this nomenclature are Nellore , Tadepalligudem , Guntur , Chintalapudi , Yerpedu , Narasaraopeta , Sattenapalle , Visakapatnam , Vizianagaram , Ananthagiri , Vijayawada , Vuyyuru , Macherla , Poranki , Ramagundam , Warangal , Mancherial , Peddapalli , Siddipet , Pithapuram , Banswada , and Miryalaguda . There are four regional dialects in Telugu: Colloquially, Telangana , Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra dialects are considered
2034-407: Is a Shatavadhani , and after performing Sahasraavadhaanam is called Sahasravadhani . A dwipada is a couplet with a specific rhyme scheme. A stanza contains two short lines, each with less than fifteen characters. Longer poems, composed of many dwipada , can be composed with a "highly musical" effect. Much of the extant corpus in this form was written using the common language of
2147-640: Is a classical Dravidian language native to the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana , where it is also the official language . Spoken by about 96 million people (2022), Telugu is the most widely spoken member of the Dravidian language family, and one of the twenty-two scheduled languages of the Republic of India . It is one of the few languages that has primary official status in more than one Indian state , alongside Hindi and Bengali . Telugu
2260-500: Is a result of an "n" to "l" alternation established in Telugu. The popular belief holds that Telugu is derived from Trilinga of Trilinga Kshetras being the land bounded by the three Lingas which is Telugu homeland. P. Chenchiah and Bhujanga Rao note that Atharvana Acharya in the 13th century wrote a grammar of Telugu, calling it the Trilinga Śabdānusāsana (or Trilinga Grammar) . However, most scholars note that Atharvana's grammar
2373-496: Is a well-known example of the form. Srinatha was widely regarded as the Kavi Sarvabhowma ("the emperor among poets"). Kumaragiri Vema Reddy ( Telugu : వేమన ), popularly known as Yogi Vemana, was a 14th-century Telugu poet. His poems were written in the popular vernacular of Telugu, and are known for their use of simple language and native idioms. His poems discuss the subjects of Yoga , wisdom and morality. There
SECTION 20
#17327835683952486-458: Is born Svarochisha, the father of Svarochishamanu. The theme for his Manu Charitra is a short story from Markandeya Purana . It is about second Manu of fourteen manus (fathers of mankind societies according to Hindu mythology), translated into Telugu from Sanskrit by Marana (1291–1323), disciple of Tikkana. The original story was around 150 poems and Peddana extended into six chapters with 600 poems by adding fiction and descriptions. His work
2599-542: Is called the Prabandha Age (1540 CE to 1600 CE). Each Ashtadiggaja had composed at least one Prabandha Kavyamu , and it was the Ashtadiggajas who gave Prabandha its present form. Most Ashtadiggajas were from Rayalaseema . The Ashtadiggajas Allasani Peddana , Dhurjati , Nandi Thimmana , Madayyagari Mallana and Ayyalaraju Ramabhadrudu were from Rayalaseema . Pandit Ramakrishna hailed from Tenali in
2712-538: Is considered the highest form of verse. The essentials of such a composition according to the Telugu poetic theory are: In the earliest period, Telugu literature existed in the form of inscriptions, from around 400 BC. The 6th- or 7th-century Sanskrit text Janashrayi-Chhandovichiti (or Janāśraya-chandas ) deals with the metres used in Telugu, including some metres that are not found in Sanskrit prosody . This indicates that Telugu poetry existed during or around
2825-535: Is dated to around 200 BCE. This word was further analyzed by Iravatham Mahadevan in his attempts to decipher the Indus script . Several Telugu words, primarily personal and place names, were identified at Amaravati , Nagarjunakonda , Krishna river basin , Ballari , Eluru , Ongole and Nellore between 200 BCE and 500 CE. The Ghantasala Brahmin inscription and the pillar inscription of Vijaya Satakarni at Vijayapuri, Nagarjunakonda , and other locations date to
2938-647: Is found on one of the rock-cut caves around the Keesaragutta temple , 35 kilometers from Hyderabad . This inscription is dated to the Vishnukundina period of around 400 CE and is the earliest known short Telugu inscription from the Telangana region. Several titles of Mahendravarman I in Telugu language, dated to c. 600 CE , were inscribed on cave-inscriptions in Tamil Nadu. From
3051-494: Is his greatest gift to Telugu people. Other notable works of Chinnayasuri include Neeti Chandrika , Sootandhra Vyaakaranamu , Andhra Dhatumoola and Neeti Sangrahamu . Chinnayasuri translated Mitra Labham and Mitra Bhedam from the Sanskrit Panchatantra as Neeti Chandrika . Kandukuri Veeresalingam and Kokkonda Venkata Ratnam Pantulu followed his style of prose writing and wrote Vigrahamu and Sandhi in
3164-488: Is known as the Pada-kavita Pitaamaha of the Telugu language. He was born to a Vaidiki Brahmin family and his works are considered to have dominated and influenced the structure of Carnatic music compositions. Annamacharya is said to have composed as many as 32,000 sankeertanas (songs) on Bhagwaan Govinda Venkateswara, of which only about 12,000 are available today. His keertana compositions are based on
3277-473: Is no consensus among scholars about the period in which Vemana lived. C.P. Brown , known for his research on Vemana, estimates the year of birth to be the year 1352 based on some of his verses. His poems are four lines in length. The fourth line is, in the majority of the cases, the chorus Viswadhabhirama Vinura Vema – he thus conveyed his message with three small lines written in a simple vernacular. He traveled widely across south India, acquiring popularity as
3390-536: Is now the Andhra Pradesh region, generally known for his wit and humour. He was one of the Ashtadiggajas or the eight poets at the court of Krishnadevaraya , the Vijayanagara emperor . When he was a child, his father was led to death. So, to overcome the depression that Rama faced, his mother Lakshamma took him to Vijayanagara where he was an advisor and was also a great scholar of Telugu and Sanskrit. He
3503-459: Is one of the languages designated as a classical language by the Government of India . It is the 14th most spoken native language in the world. Modern Standard Telugu is based on the dialect of erstwhile Krishna, Guntur, East Godavari and West Godavari districts of Coastal Andhra . Telugu is also spoken in the states of Karnataka , Tamil Nadu , Maharashtra , Chhattisgarh , Orissa and
Ashtadiggajas - Misplaced Pages Continue
3616-506: Is rendered in the Champu style, is chaste and polished and of a high literary merit. The advanced and well-developed language used by Nannaya suggests that prior Telugu literature other than royal grants and decrees must have existed before him. However, these presumed works are now lost . Nannaya completed the first two chapters and a part of the third chapter of the Mahābhārata epic, which
3729-402: Is rendered in the Champu style. Nannaya's Andhra Mahabharatam was almost completed by Tikkana Somayaji ( Telugu : తిక్కన సోమయాజి ; 1205–1288 CE) who wrote chapters 4 to 18. Errapragada ( Telugu : ఎర్రాప్రగడ ) or Yerrapragada ) who lived in the 14th century, finished the epic by completing the third chapter. He mimics Nannaya's style in the beginning, slowly changes tempo and finishes
3842-549: Is the earliest available Telugu Dandaka (a rhapsody which uses the same gana or foot throughout). His second work was Virabhadra Vijayamu which describes the adventures of Virabhadra , son of Shiva . As a young man, he was a devotee of Shiva and also Rama and was more interested in salvation, from which came the inspiration to translate the Bhagavata Purāṇas . Tallapaka Annamacharya (or Annamayya) ( Telugu : శ్రీ తాళ్ళపాక అన్నమాచార్య ) (9 May 1408 – 23 February 1503)
3955-456: Is the practice of singing the anupallavi first then the pallavi (second verse followed by first verse). Most of the padams are of the theme of longing for the coming of the Krishna. He wrote with Sringara as a main theme in expressing madhurabhakti (devotion to the supreme). Sringara is a motif where the mundane sexual relationship between a Nayaki (woman) and a Nayaka (man) is used as
4068-545: The Prahalada Bhakti Vijayam and the Nauka Charitam . Prahlada Bhakti Vijayam is in five acts with 45 kritis set in 28 ragas and 138 verses, in different metres in Telugu. Nauka Charitam is a shorter play in one act with 21 kritis set in 13 ragas and 43 verses. The latter is the most popular of Tyagaraja's operas, and is a creation of the composer's own imagination and has no basis in
4181-624: The Bhagavata Purāṇa . Often overlooked is the fact that Tyagaraja's works are some of the best and most beautiful literary expressions in Telugu language . Valmiki composed the Ramayana , the story of Rama, with 24,000 verses and also composed 24,000 kritis in praise of the lord. Paravastu Chinnayasuri ( Telugu : పరవస్తు చిన్నయ సూరి ) (1807–1861) wrote Baala Vyaakaranamu in a new style after doing extensive research on Andhra Grammar which
4294-705: The Challapalli Samasthanam and possibly of his father as well. Purushottama Kavi is recognized for composing literary works in Telugu consisting of one hundred poetic stanzas, known as satakams . Kasula Purushottama Kavi is known for composing the Andhra Nayaka Satakam on Srikakula Andhra Mahavishnu Kasula Purushottama Kavi also composed Hamsaladeevi Gopala Shatakam , Manasa Bodha Shatakam , Bhakta Kalpadruma Shatakam , and Venugopala Shatakam . Mulugu Papayaradhya , also known as Mulugu Papayya or Sangameswara Sastry, (1778 – 1852)
4407-617: The Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh . Ramarajabhushanudu and Pingali Surana were the other two Ashtadiggajas. The title Ashtadiggajas (Ashta + dik + gaja) means elephants in eight directions . It refers to the old Hindu belief that eight elephants hold the earth in eight directions which are namely Airaavata, Pundareeka, Vamana, Kumuda, Anjana, Pushpadanta, Sarvabhauma, Suprateeka, whose wives are Abhra, Kapila, Pingala, Anupama, Taamraparni, Subhradanti, Angana, Anjanaavati. The court of poets were also called Bhuvana Vijayam (Conquest of
4520-526: The Mahabharata by Thimmaya, the Ramayana by Ranganadha, and the Bhagavatam by Tekumalla Ranga Sai. The form declined after the dwipada works of the early 17th century king-poet Raghunatha Nayak of Tanjore . Dwipada's accessibility has sometimes meant it was not a prestigious form of Telugu poetry. In the 19th century, scholar Charles Philip Brown noted "the learned despise couplets because
4633-556: The Mahabharata . She presented the Telugu nativity and culture in the story taken from Sanskrit epic. Allasani Peddana ( Telugu : అల్లసాని పెద్దన ) (15th and 16th centuries) was ranked as the foremost of the Ashtadiggajalu the title for the group of eight poets in the court of Krishnadevaraya , a ruler of the Vijayanagara Empire. Peddana was a native of Somandepalli near Anantapur . Allasani Peddana wrote
Ashtadiggajas - Misplaced Pages Continue
4746-619: The Markandeya Purāṇas relating to the birth of Svarochishamanu, who is one of the fourteen Manus . Pravarakhya is a pious Brahmin youth who goes to the Himalayas for Tapasya . In the Himalayas Varudhini , a Gandharva girl, falls in love with him, but Pravarakyudu rejects her love. Knowing this a Gandharva youth who was earlier rejected by Varudhini assumes the form of Pravarakhya and succeeds to win her love. To them
4859-618: The Prabandham genres during the Prabandha yugam . Telugu literature uses an expression in verse called Champu , which mixes prose and poetry. Although it is the dominant literary form, there are exceptions: for example, Tikkana composed Uttara Ramayana entirely in verse. New devices for the dissemination of knowledge among the people were developed in the form of the Dvipada and Sataka styles. Dvipada , sometimes written
4972-856: The Proto-Dravidian language around 1000 BCE. The earliest Telugu words appear in Prakrit inscriptions dating to c. 4th century BCE , found in Bhattiprolu , Andhra Pradesh. Telugu label inscriptions and Prakrit inscriptions containing Telugu words have been dated to the era of Emperor Ashoka (257 BCE), as well as to the Satavahana and Vishnukundina periods. Inscriptions in Old Telugu script were found as far away as Indonesia and Myanmar . Telugu has been in use as an official language for over 1,400 years and has served as
5085-585: The Ranganadha Ramayana , a version of the Ramayana that became incredibly popular for its singability, vernacular diction, and stories not found in Valmiki's version . The form reached its apex with Palnati Vira Charitra, popularly ascribed to the 14th century poet Srinatha . By the end of the Prabandha era, the three most important Sanskrit poems had been translated into Telugu in dwipada:
5198-472: The Telugu from the Telugu-Kannada alphabet took place. The Vijayanagara Empire gained dominance from 1336 to the late 17th century, reaching its peak during the rule of Krishnadevaraya in the 16th century, when Telugu literature experienced what is considered its Golden Age . The 15th-century Venetian explorer Niccolò de' Conti , who visited the Vijayanagara Empire , found that the words in
5311-584: The Vishishtadvaita school of thought. Annamayya was educated in this system of Ramanuja by Sri Satagopa Yateendra of the Ahobila matham. Tallapaka Tirumalamma ( Telugu : తాళ్ళపాక తిరుమలమ్మ ) (Annamacharya's wife) wrote Subhadra Kalyanam , and is considered the first female poet in Telugu literature. Her main work, Subhadra Kalyanam , which consists of 1170 poems, is about the marriage of Arjuna and Subhadra , who are characters that appear in
5424-489: The 12th century. Sumati Shatakam , which is a neeti ("moral"), is one of the most famous Telugu Shatakams . Shatakam is composed of more than a 100 padyalu (poems). According to many literary critics Sumati Shatakam was composed by Baddena Bhupaludu ( Telugu : బద్దెన భూపాల ; 1220–1280 CE). He was also known as Bhadra Bhupala. He was a Chola prince and a vassal under the Kakatiya empress Rani Rudrama Devi , and
5537-584: The 14th century. In the latter half of the 17th century, the Mughal Empire extended further south, culminating in the establishment of the Hyderabad State by the dynasty of the Nizam of Hyderabad in 1724. This heralded an era of Persian influence on the Telugu language, especially Hyderabad State. The effect is also evident in the prose of the early 19th century, as in the kaifiyats . In
5650-466: The 1840s. Srinatha ( Telugu : శ్రీనాథుడు ) (1365–1441) popularised the Prabandha style of composition. He was a minister in the court of Pedakomati Vemareddy of Kondaveedu and wrote Salivahana Saptasati , Sivaratri Mahatyam , Harivilasa , Bhimakanda , Kasi Khandam , Srungara Naishadham , Palanati Veera Charitra , Dhananjaya Vijayam , Srungara Dipika . These works were concerned with history and mythology. Srinatha's Srungara Naishadhamu
5763-552: The 1980s discoveries in Karimnagar. This is the period of Kavi Trayam or Trinity of Poets. Nannayya , Tikkana and Yerrapragada (or Errana) are known as the Kavi Trayam. Andhra Mahabharatam of Nannayya Bhattarakudu ( Telugu : నన్నయ ; 1022–1063 CE), is generally regarded as the first Telugu literary composition ( Adi Kavyam ) and Nannaya as the first poet ( Adi Kavi ) of Telugu language. His work, which
SECTION 50
#17327835683955876-410: The 6th century onwards, complete Telugu inscriptions began to appear in districts neighbouring Kadapa such as Prakasam and Palnadu . Metrically composed Telugu inscriptions and those with ornamental or literary prose appear from 630 CE. The Madras Museum plates of Balliya-Choda dated to the mid-ninth century CE, are the earliest copper plate grants in the Telugu language. During this period, Telugu
5989-607: The 6th century. Malliya Rechana (940 CE) composed the first Telugu poetic prosody book Kavijanasrayam (pre-Nannayya chandassu) around 940 AD. This was a popular one and referred by many poets. There seems to be even an earlier prosody book by Rechana's guru Vaadindra Chudamani which is not available. Veturi Prabhakara Sastry in 1900s mentioned the existence of Pre-Nannayya Chandassu in Raja Raja Narendra Pattabhisheka Sanchika. Accurate dating of this piece of literature happened after
6102-729: The Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana . It is one of the 22 languages under schedule 8 of the constitution of India . It is one of the official languages of the union territories of Puducherry . Telugu is a protected language in South Africa . According to the Constitution of South Africa , the Pan South African Language Board must promote and ensure respect for Telugu along with other languages. The Government of South Africa announced that Telugu will be re-included as an official subject in
6215-688: The South African schools after it was removed from the curriculum in state schools. In addition, with the creation in October 2004 of a legal status for classical languages by the Government of India on 8 August 2008, Telugu was also given classical language status due to several campaigns. According to the famous Japanese historian Noboru Karashima who served as the president of the Epigraphical Society of India in 1985, there are approximately 10,000 inscriptions which exist in
6328-518: The South Indian tradition. Kshetrayya was intimately connected with the devadasi women of the temples of south India, who were the subject of many of his compositions. The devadasis were traditionally in possession of the musical/poetic interpretations of his work for a long period of time till the devadasi system was abolished and the compositions became more accepted in the musical community as valuable works of art. The musical community also owes
6441-579: The Telugu language as of the year 1996 making it one of the most densely inscribed languages. Telugu inscriptions are found in all the districts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. They are also found in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh. According to recent estimates by ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) the number of inscriptions in the Telugu language goes up to 14,000. Adilabad, Medak, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Ranga Reddy, Hyderabad, Mahbubnagar, Anantapur, Chittoor and Srikakulam produced only
6554-630: The Telugu language end with vowels, just like those in Italian , and hence referred to it as "The Italian of the East"; a saying that has been widely repeated. A distinct dialect developed in present-day Hyderabad region, due to Persian and Arabic influence. This influence began with the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate rule by the Tughlaq dynasty in the northern Deccan Plateau during
6667-653: The United States and the third most spoken South Asian language after Hindi and Urdu . Minority Telugus are also found in Australia , New Zealand , Bahrain , Canada , Fiji , Malaysia , Sri Lanka , Singapore , Mauritius , Myanmar , Europe ( Italy , the United Kingdom ), South Africa , Trinidad and Tobago , and the United Arab Emirates . Telugu is the official language of
6780-480: The World). These poets were: Though the above listed eight poets are widely regarded as the Ashtadiggajas, there are some differences of opinion as to who exactly constituted the Ashtadiggajas and if the composition of this body changed over time. Some literary works mention the name of Bhattu-Murti in place of Ramarajabhushanudu and some accounts mention Pingali Surana and Tenali Ramakrishna also as members of
6893-495: The centuries, many non-Telugu speakers have praised the natural musicality of Telugu speech, referring to it as a mellifluous and euphonious language. Speakers of Telugu refer to it as simply Telugu or Telugoo . Older forms of the name include Teluṅgu and Tenuṅgu . Tenugu is derived from the Proto-Dravidian word *ten ("south") to mean "the people who lived in the south/southern direction" (relative to Sanskrit and Prakrit -speaking peoples). The name Telugu , then,
SECTION 60
#17327835683957006-686: The chapter in the writing style of Tikkana. These three writers – Nannaya, Tikkana and Yerrapragada – are known as the Kavitraya ("three great poets") of Telugu. Other translations such as the Markandeya Puranam , by the disciple of Tikkana Somayaji , Marana; the Dasakumara Charita , by Ketana ; and Yerrapragada 's Harivamsam followed. Many scientific works, like Ganitasarasangrahamu by Pavuluri Mallana and Prakirnaganitamu by Eluganti Peddana, were written in
7119-628: The court language for numerous dynasties in Southern and Eastern India, including the Eastern Chalukyas , Eastern Gangas , Kakatiyas , Vijayanagara Empire , Qutb Shahis , Madurai Nayaks , and Thanjavur Nayaks . It was also used as an official language outside its homeland, even by non-Telugu dynasties such as the Thanjavur Marathas in Tamil Nadu. Telugu has an unbroken, prolific, and diverse literary tradition of over
7232-471: The domains of desire, social commentary, the articulation of cultural values, and critical taste, these interlocking stanzas embody an entire education, an expressive vision of life and poetry." A satakamu literally means "an anthology of a hundred poems", but the number is usually somewhat higher, often an auspicious number like 108. The anthology is meant to be taken together. A list of notable such anthologies: The Praudha Prabandha or Maha Kavya
7345-597: The exception of /ɳ/ and /ɭ/, all occur word-initial in a few words, such as / ʈ ɐkːu/ ṭakku 'pretence', / ʈ iːʋi/ ṭhīvi 'grandeur', / ɖ ipːɐ/ ḍippā 'half of a spherical object', and / ʂ oːku/ ṣōku 'fashionable appearance'. The approximant /j/ occurs in word-initial position only in borrowed words, such as. / j ɐnɡu/ yangu , from English 'young', / j ɐʃɐsːu/ yaśassu from Sanskrit yaśas /jɐʃɐs/ 'fame'. Vowels in Telugu contrast in length; there are short and long versions of all vowels except for /æ/, which only occurs as long. Long vowels can occur in any position within
7458-687: The first century CE. Additionally, the Tummalagudem inscription of the Vishnukundinas dates to the 5th century CE. Telugu place names in Prakrit inscriptions are attested from the 2nd century CE onwards. A number of Telugu words were found in the Sanskrit and Prakrit inscriptions of the Satavahana dynasty , Vishnukundina dynasty , and Andhra Ikshvakus . The coin legends of the Satavahanas, in all areas and all periods, used
7571-428: The first extant works are from the 11th century when the Mahabharata was first translated to Telugu from Sanskrit by Nannaya . The language has experienced a golden age under the patronage of the Vijayanagara Emperor-Poet Krishnadevaraya . There are various sources available for information on early Telugu writers. Among these are the prologues to their poems, which followed the Sanskrit model by customarily giving
7684-407: The first major Prabandha and for this reason he is revered as Andhra Kavita Pitamaha ("the grand father of Telugu poetry"). It is believed that he was also a minister in the king's court and is hence sometimes referred as Peddanaamaatya ( Peddana + Amaatya = Peddana, the minister). He wrote Swaarochisha Manu Sambhavam (also known as Manu Charitra ), which is a development of an episode in
7797-439: The last line signifies. Bammera Potanaamatya ( Telugu : బమ్మెర పోతన ) (1450–1510) is best known for his translation of the Bhagavata Purana from Sanskrit to Telugu. His work, Andhra Maha Bhagavatamu . He was born into a Brahmin family and was considered to be a Sahaja Kavi ("natural poet") who needed no teacher. He wrote Bhogini Dandakam a poem praising king Singa Bhoopala's consort danseuse, Bhogini, while young. This
7910-484: The late 19th and the early 20th centuries, the influence of the English language was seen, and modern communication/printing press arose as an effect of British rule , especially in the areas that were part of the Madras Presidency . Literature from this time had a mix of classical and modern traditions and included works by such scholars as Gidugu Venkata Ramamoorty , Kandukuri Veeresalingam , Gurajada Apparao , Gidugu Sitapati and Panuganti Lakshminarasimha Rao . In
8023-408: The later Sanskritisation of it. If so the derivation itself must have been quite ancient because Triglyphum , Trilingum and Modogalingam are attested in ancient Greek sources, the last of which can be interpreted as a Telugu rendition of " Trilinga ". Telugu, as a Dravidian language, descends from Proto-Dravidian , a proto-language . Linguistic reconstruction suggests that Proto-Dravidian
8136-400: The later emperors. From the stone inscriptions of that time, it has been inferred that the village of Thippalur in the present-day Cuddapah district was given to the Ashtadiggajas by the emperor. Tenali Ramakrishna (also known as Pandit Ramakrishna and Tenali Rama) was a poet, scholar, thinker and a Special Advisor in the court of Krishnadevaraya . He was a Telugu poet who hailed from what
8249-615: The most famous composer of Telugu padams , is said to have composed a padam a day for the god of the Tirupati temple, Venkateswara . His poems, of which 13,000 survive on copper plates stored in the temple vaults, deal with the "infinite varieties and nuances of the god’s love life" and "his sense of himself as an agonized, turbulent human being in relation to the god he worships". Chatus (meaning "charming utterance") are remembered poems passed on by recitation. In premodern South India, literate people recited chatus to each other as
8362-590: The neighbouring states of Tamil Nadu , Karnataka , Maharashtra , Odisha , Chhattisgarh , some parts of Jharkhand , and the Kharagpur region of West Bengal in India. Many Telugu immigrants are also found in the states of Gujarat , Goa , Bihar , Kashmir , Uttar Pradesh , Punjab , Haryana , and Rajasthan . As of 2018 7.2% of the population, Telugu is the fourth-most-spoken native language in India after Hindi , Bengali , and Marathi . In Karnataka , 7.0% of
8475-481: The original stories followed during this period. Poets in earlier century like Tikkana and Potana translated the Sanskrit books and epics without changing the stories from the original. Ashtadiggajas usually took small, sometimes obscure, stories from Puranas and used them as plots for writing major Kāvyas . A Prabandham can be of three types, viz., Prakhyatam, Utpadyam, Misramam (famous story, purely fictional story, mixed story). Ashtadiggajas have written in all
8588-415: The past tense. Telugu poetry#Prabandha era • Economy of Telangana • Telangana Movement • Telangana cuisine Telugu literature is the body of works written in the Telugu language . It consists of poems, short stories , novels, plays, and song lyrics, among others. There is some indication that Telugu literature dates at least to the middle of the first millennium,
8701-470: The poems thus written are in a flowing easy style which uneducated persons read with enjoyment." Only a few writers today use it out of lingering respect its history. Padams are lyric poems usually meant to be sung, with an opening line or lines called a pallavi , followed by three caranam verses, each of which is followed by the pallavi refrain. The padam is thus "a highly integrated, internally resonant syntactic and thematic unit." Annamacharya ,
8814-592: The population speak Telugu, and 5.6% in Tamil Nadu . There are more than 400,000 Telugu Americans in the United States . As of 2018 , Telugu is the fastest-growing language in the United States , (especially in New Jersey and New York City ), with the number of Telugu speakers in the United States increasing by 86% between 2010 and 2017. As of 2021 , it is the 18th most spoken native language in
8927-406: The praise of Shiva). Dhurjati took themes from Purāṇas and added local stories and myths in his work. Unlike contemporaries such as Peddana and Mallana, who chose the stories of kings, he chose devotion as his theme. Krishnadevaraya praised Dhurjati, saying "Stuti mati yaina Andhrakavi Dhurjati palkulakelagalgeno yetulita madhuri mahima...." (How is Dhurjati's poetry so immeasurably beautiful). He
9040-424: The precolonial era, Telugu became the language of high culture throughout South India . Vijaya Ramaswamy compared it to the overwhelming dominance of French as the cultural language of Europe during roughly the same era. Telugu also predominates in the evolution of Carnatic music , one of two main subgenres of Indian classical music and is widely taught in music colleges focusing on Carnatic tradition. Over
9153-678: The princely Hyderabad State , the Andhra Mahasabha was started in 1921 with the main goal of promoting Telugu language, literature, its books and historical research. Key figures in this movement included Madapati Hanumantha Rao (founder of the Andhra Mahasabha), Komarraju Venkata Lakshmana Rao (founder of the Library Movement in Hyderabad State), and Suravaram Pratapa Reddy . Since the 1930s, what
9266-563: The rule of the Vijayanagara dynasty, and the period of Krishnadevaraya's rule in the sixteenth century is considered to be the golden age of Telugu literature. Krishnadevaraya, a poet himself, introduced the Prabandha to Telugu literature. Amukta Malyada . Krishna Deva Raya wrote the book Amuktamalyada in Telugu, describing the pangs of separation suffered by Andal (an incarnation of the goddess Mahalakshmi . He describes Andal's physical beauty in thirty verses; using descriptions of
9379-527: The son of Dasaratha, an avatar of Rama . Tarikonda Venkamamba ( Telugu : తరికొండ వెంకమాంబ ; alternate spelling: Vengamamba, born 1730) was a poet and staunch devotee of Venkateswara in the 18th century. She wrote numerous poems and songs. Tyagaraja or Tyagabrahmam ( Telugu : కాకర్ల త్యాగబ్రహ్మం ) (1767–1847) of Tanjore composed devotional songs in Telugu, which form a big part of the repertoire of Carnatic music. In addition to nearly 600 compositions (kritis), Tyagaraja composed two musical plays in Telugu,
9492-463: The split of Telugu at c. 1000 BCE. The linguistic history of Telugu is periodised as follows: Pre-historic Telugu is identified with the period around 600 BCE or even earlier. Pre-historic Telugu is considered one of the most conservative languages of the Dravidian family based on its linguistic features. One of the earliest Telugu words, nágabu , found at the Amaravati Stupa ,
9605-483: The spring and the monsoon as metaphors. As elsewhere in Indian poetry, the sensual pleasure of union extends beyond the physical level and becomes a path to, and a metaphor for, spirituality and ultimate union with the divine. His court had the Ashtadiggajas ("eight elephants"), who were considered to be the greatest of poets of that time. Some critics dismiss the following period, dominated by prabandhas , as
9718-534: The state that is currently divided into Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. It also has official language status in the Yanam district of the union territory of Puducherry . It is the fourth most spoken Indian language in India after Hindi , Bengali and Marathi . It is one of the six classical languages of India . Telugu Language Day is celebrated every year on 29 August, the birthday of Telugu poet Gidugu Venkata Ramamurthy . The fourth World Telugu Conference
9831-490: The story of Udbhata, a monk, as well as Ghatikachala Mahatyam about Ghatikachalam , a place of worship for God Narasimha near Vellore . He followed the Prabandha style. He took the theme for Panduranga Mahatyam from the Skanda Purana and enhanced it with many stories about the devotees of God Vitthala (Panduranga). He is noted for brilliance and wit and for mocking other poets and great personalities. He created
9944-572: The three Telugu dialects and regions. Waddar , Chenchu , and Manna-Dora are all closely related to Telugu. Other dialects of Telugu are Berad, Dasari, Dommara, Golari, Kamathi, Komtao, Konda-Reddi, Salewari, Vadaga, Srikakula, Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, Rayalaseema, Nellore, Guntur, Vadari Bangalore, and Yanadi. The Roman transliteration used for transcribing the Telugu script is the National Library at Kolkata romanisation . Telugu words generally end in vowels. In Old Telugu, this
10057-548: The three genres during the Prabandha Yugam . There are also at least two dual meaning works during this time. Raghavapandaveeyam by Pingali Surana simultaneously runs the stories of Rama and Pandavas . Harischandranalopakhyanamu by Bhattumurthy also simultaneously tells the stories of the emperors Harischandra and Nala . tenali Rama Telugu language Telugu ( / ˈ t ɛ l ʊ ɡ uː / ; తెలుగు , Telugu pronunciation: [ˈt̪eluɡu] )
10170-403: The time. The form's musicality and accessibility made the form a natural fit for spreading religious messages. Palkuriki Somanatha the first to write in this form in the 12th or 13th century. His works Basava Puranam and Panditaradhya Charitra were "immensely singable" devotional works to Shiva as Basaveshwara . Influenced by Shaivaite poets' use of dwipada , a Vaishnavite poet wrote
10283-673: The title Parinaya, Kalyana and Vivāha became popular. Religious literature consisted of biographies of the founders of religion , their teachings, sāra , as well as commentaries, bhashya . Traditional Hindu knowledge systems such as Vedic astrology , the Arthashastra , grammar, moral aphorisms , and bhakti (devotional psalms) to deities within the Hindu pantheon are characteristics of more popular works of Telugu literature. The various forms of literature found in Telugu are: Ashtadiggajas have written in all three of
10396-455: The tradition of Telugu-language kavya . Literary works, drawn from episodes of the Purāṇas under the name Akhyana or Khanda , became popular along with depictions of the fortune of a single hero under the title of Charitra, Vijaya, Vilasa and Abhyudaya. Such titles are examples of what would become the most common subject matter of poetry. In the eighteenth-century, marriages of heroes under
10509-615: The traditions that they followed. Early Telugu literature is predominantly religious in subject matter. Poets and scholars drew most of their material from, and spent most of their time translating, epics, such as the Ramayana , the Mahabharata , the Bhagavata and the Purāṇas . From the sixteenth century onwards, rarely known episodes from the Purāṇas would form the basis for
10622-531: The transliteration of the Telugu script used here (where different from IPA). Most consonants contrast in length in word-medial position, meaning that there are long (geminated) and short phonetic renderings of the sounds. A few examples of words that contrast by length of word-medial consonants: All retroflex consonants occur in intervocalic position and when adjacent to a retroflex consonant, for instance. /ʋɐː ɳ iː/ vāṇī 'tippet', /kɐ ʈɳ ɐm/ kaṭṇam 'dowry', /pɐ ɳɖ u/ paṇḍu 'fruit'; /kɐ ɭ ɐ/ kaḷa 'art'. With
10735-560: The union territories of Puducherry and Andaman and Nicobar Islands . It is also spoken by members of the Telugu diaspora spread across countries like United States , Australia , Malaysia , Mauritius , UAE , Saudi Arabia and others. Telugu is the fastest-growing language in the United States. It is also a protected language in South Africa and is offered as an optional third language in schools in KwaZulu-Natal province. According to Mikhail S. Andronov, Telugu split from
10848-412: The word, but native Telugu words do not end in a long vowel. Short vowels occur in all positions of a word, with the exception of /o/, which does not occur word-finally. The vowels of Telugu are illustrated below, along with the Telugu script and romanisation. In most dialects, the vowel /æː/ only occurs in loan words. In the Guntur dialect, [æː] is a frequent allophone of /aː/ in certain verbs in
10961-402: The writer and composer of a song) in the Telugu language. His devotional lyrics to Rama are famous in South Indian classical music as Ramadaasu Keertanalu . Even the doyen of South Indian classical music Saint Thyagaraja learned and later improved the style now considered standard kriti form of music composition. He also has written Dasarathi Shatakamu a collection of nearly 100 poems dedicated to
11074-597: Was dwipada , means 'two feet'—a couplet — and sataka means 'hundred'—signifying a cento of verses). Popular satakas include: the Sarveshvara, Kalahastishvara , and Dasarathi satakas . There are some satakas which are divided into ten groups of ten verses called dasaka which is adopted from Prakrit . Avadhanam is a literary performance popular from the very ancient days in Sanskrit and more so in Telugu and Kannada languages. It requires
11187-545: Was a Telugu and Sanskrit scholar, preceptor, translator, and writer, known for his translation of the Devi Bhagavatam from Sanskrit into Telugu and for being the preceptor and court poet of the Raja of Amavarati, Vasireddy Venkatadri Nayudu . Mulugu Papayaradhya was born to Viranaradhya and Akkamba. He is known to have written more than a hundred works in Telugu and Sanskrit. He was titled as Abhinava Kalidasa. He
11300-617: Was a Veera Shaivite acharya (preceptor). Mulugu Papayaradhya is regarded as the first poet to translate the Devi-Bhagavata Purana into Telugu. From the more than hundred works he wrote, Kalyanacampu , Ekadasivratacampu , Aryasati , Sivastotra , and Vedantasarasangraha are among the more prominent works. Papayaradhya also wrote the Ahalya Sankrandana Vilasamu . Kshetrayya or Kshetragna ( Telugu : క్షేత్రయ్య ) ( c. 1600–1680 CE )
11413-519: Was a prolific poet and composer of Carnatic music. He lived in the area of Andhra Pradesh . He composed a number of padams and keertanas , the prevalent formats of his time. He is credited with more than 4000 compositions, although only a handful have survived. He composed his songs on his favourite deity Krishna (Gopala) in Telugu. He perfected the padam format that is still being used today. His padams are sung in dance ( Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi ) and music recitals. A unique feature of his padams
11526-413: Was absolute; in the modern language m, n, y, w may end a word. Sanskrit loans have introduced aspirated and murmured consonants as well. Telugu does not have contrastive stress , and speakers vary on where they perceive stress. Most place it on the penultimate or final syllable, depending on word and vowel length. The table below lists the consonant phonemes of Telugu, along with the symbols used in
11639-502: Was an advisor in court of Krishnadevaraya . Allasani Peddana wrote Swaarochisha Manu Sambhavam, dedicated to the Emperor Krishna Deva Raya . Nandi Thimmana wrote Parijataapaharanam and dedicated it to the emperor as well. Madayyagari Mallana wrote Rajasekhara Charitramu . Dhurjati wrote Kalahasti Mahatyamu . Ayyalaraju Ramabhadrudu wrote Ramaabhyudayamu . Pingali Surana wrote Raghavapandaveeyamu ,
11752-662: Was another sixteenth-century court poet of the Vijayanagara empire and also one of the Ashtadiggajas . His family had originally hailed from Tenali in Guntur district , he was born in a Telugu Niyogi Brahmin family. His famous work Panduranga Mahatyamu is one among the Pancha Kavyas . He dedicated that to Viruri Vedadri . This book is about the Pundarika Kshetram on the banks of river Bhaimi and its legend. He also composed Udbhataradhya Charitram on
11865-507: Was bounded in north by Mahendra mountain in the modern Ganjam district in Odisha and to the south by Srikalahasteeswara temple in Tirupati district . However, Andhra extended westwards as far as Srisailam in Nandyal district , about halfway across the modern state. According to other sources in the early sixteenth century, the northern boundary is Simhachalam and the southern limit
11978-423: Was considered an "elite" literary form of the Telugu language has now spread to the common people with the introduction of mass media like movies, television, radio and newspapers. This form of the language is also taught in schools and colleges as a standard. Telugu is one of the 22 languages with official status in India . The Andhra Pradesh Official Language Act, 1966, declares Telugu the official language of
12091-406: Was heavily influenced by Sanskrit and Prakrit, corresponding to the advent of Telugu literature. Initially, Telugu literature appeared in inscriptions and poetry in the courts of rulers, and later in written works, such as Nannayya 's Andhra Mahabharatam (1022 CE). The third phase is marked by further stylisation and sophistication of the literary languages. During this period the split of
12204-438: Was known as Pedda Dhurjati ("Elder Dhurjati") as there were four other people from the same family line who went by the name of Dhurjati during the same period and after him. His grandson Venkataraya Dhurjati, wrote Indumati Parinayam ("Marriage of Indumati"), a story from Kalidasa 's Raghuvamsa . Krishnadevaraya ( Telugu : శ్రీ కృష్ణదేవరాయ ) was an emperor of Vijayanagara Kingdom. Literary activities flourished during
12317-508: Was organised in Tirupati in the last week of December 2012. Issues related to Telugu language policy were deliberated at length. The American Community Survey has said that data for 2016 which were released in September 2017 showed Telugu is the third most widely spoken Indian language in the US. Hindi tops the list followed by Gujarati, as of the 2010 census . In the Indian subcontinent,
12430-498: Was spoken around the fourth millennium BCE. Comparative linguistics confirms that Telugu belongs to the South Dravidian-II (also called South-Central Dravidian) sub-group, which also includes the non-literary languages like Gondi , Kuvi , Koya , Pengo , Konda and Manda. Proto-Telugu is the reconstructed linguistic ancestor of all the dialects and registers of Telugu. Russian linguist Mikhail S. Andronov, places
12543-469: Was the army chief under Chikka Deva Raya (1672–1704) of the Mysore Kingdom. Kancherla Gopanna ( Telugu : కంచెర్ల గోపన్న ; c. 1620 – c. 1680 CE ), popularly known as Bhadradri Ramadasu or Bhadrachala Ramadasu ( Telugu : భద్రాచల రామదాసు ), was a 17th-century Indian devotee of Rama and a composer of Carnatic music. He is one among the famous vaggeyakaras (same person being
12656-413: Was titled Atharvana Karikavali. Appa Kavi in the 17th century explicitly wrote that Telugu was derived from Trilinga . Scholar C. P. Brown made a comment that it was a "strange notion" since the predecessors of Appa Kavi had no knowledge of such a derivation. George Abraham Grierson and other linguists doubt this derivation, holding rather that Telugu was the older term and Trilinga must be
12769-658: Was treated as one of the Pancha Kavyas , the five best works in Telugu. Some of his other famous works such as Harikathaasaaramu are untraceable now. Dhurjati or Dhoorjati ( Telugu : ధూర్జటి ) (15th and 16th centuries) was a poet in the court of Krishnadevaraya and was one of the 'Ashtadiggajalu'. He was born to Singamma and Narayana in Sri Kalahasti and was the grandson of Jakkayya. His works include Sri Kalahasteeswara Mahatyam (The grace or miracles of Shiva) and Sri Kalahasteeshwara Shatakam (100+ poems in
#394605