Vijayanagara literature was produced in the
Vijayanagara Empire during a golden age of literature in
South India in general. The rulers patronised
Kannada,
Telugu and
Sanskrit and
Tamil scholars who wrote in the
Jain,
Virashaiva and
Vaishnava traditions. The period produced hundreds of works on all aspects of Indian culture, religion, biographies, Prabhandas (stories), music, grammar, poetics and medicine. An attempt is made in this section to list the various poets and saints and their most famous works.
Kannada
Kannada literature took a strong Hindu bend with the orthodox Vijayanagara kings. Some eminent names were
Kumara Vyasa, Narahari, BhimaKavi, Padmanaka, Mallanarya, Singiraja and
Chamarasa.
Jain poets
Among
Jaina poets, Madhura patronised by
Harihara II and
Deva Raya I wrote
Dharmanathapurana, Vritta Vilasa wrote
Dharmaparikshe and
Sastrsara, Bhaskara of Penugonda who wrote
Jinadharacharite (1424), Bommarasa of Terkanambi wrote
Santakumaracharite and Kotesvara of
Tuluvadesa wrote on the life of
Jivandharaja in Shatpadi metre (seven line metre). Bahubali Pandita (1351) of Sringeri wrote the
Dharmanathapurana. Jainism flourished in
Tuluva country and there Abhinava Vadi Vidyananda...
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