Literature and Culture 739 CHAPTER XIV LITERATURE AND CULTURE Mandya district is known in the Puranas to have been a part of Dandakaranya forest. It is said there that sages such as Mandavya, Mytreya, Kadamba, Koundliya, Kanva, Agasthya, Gautama and others did penance in this area. Likewise, literature and cultural heritage also come down here since times immemorial. The district of Mandya is dotted with scenic spots like Kunthibetta, Karighatta, Narayanadurga, Gajarajagiri, Adicunchanagiri and other hills; rivers such as Kaveri, Hemavathi, Lokapavani, Shimsha and Viravaishnavi; waterfalls like Gaganachukki, Bharachukki and Shimha; and bird sanctuaries like Ranganathittu, Kokkare Bellur and Gendehosalli, which are sure to have influenced the development of literature and culture of this area. Places like Srirangapattana, Nagamangala, Malavalli, Melukote, Tonnur, Kambadahalli, Bhindiganavile, Govindanahalli, Bellur, Belakavadi, Maddur, Arethippur, Vydyanathapura, Agrahara Bachahalli, Varahnatha Kallahalli, Aghalaya, Hosaholalu, Kikkeri, Basaralu, Dhanaguru, Haravu, Hosabudanuru, Marehalli and others were centers of rich cultural activities in the past. In some places dissemination of knowledge and development of education, arts and spiritual pursuits were carried out by using temples as workshops. Religious places such as Tonnur and Melukote from where Ramanujacharya, who propounded Srivaishanva philosophy; Arethippur, 740 Mandya District Gazetteer Kambadahalli and Basthikote, the centers of Jainism; the temples of Sriranganatha and Gangadharanatha of Srirangapattana, Nambinarayana of Tonnur, Cheluvanarayana of Melukote, Sri Soumyakeshava of Nagmangala, Kanneswara Gopalkrishna and Veerabhadraswamy of Kannambadi, Panchalingeswara of Govindanahalli, Lakshmivarahaswamy of Varahanahalli, Mallikarjuna of Basaralu, Ugranarasimhaswamy of Maddur, Kalabhyrava and Gangadhareswara of Adichunchangiri, Sangameswara of Sindaghatta are symbolic of the rich and pluralistic cultural heritage of the district. Chikadevaraja Wodeyar, himself a poet and administrator par excellence, was a patron of rejuvenation of all types of literature; Govinda Vydya the royal physician, Thirumalarya the minister, Chikupadhyaya, Bharathinanja, Thimmakavi, Panditha Singararya, Sanchi Honnama, Sringaramma, the court scholars and court poets; Shadaksharadeva, Mallarasa, Bhaskara of the ‘Behara Ganitha’ fame, the anonymous poet of the ‘Govinahadu’; R. Narsimhacharya and M.L. Srikanteshagowda, the doyens of modern Kannada literature; B.M. Srikantaiah, the forerunner of the renaissance in literature; Devashikhamani Alasingracharya; Pu.Thi. Narasimhachar, the poet, Bhindiganavile Venkatacharya; M.R. Srinivasa Murthy, the developer of Kannada Sahithya Parishath; G. Venakatayya, the Dalith Writer K.V. Shankaregowda, Kuppanaswamy, Alwarswamy, big names in the filed of education; Archaka Rangaswamy Bhatta, the first ever collector of folk literature; H.L. Nagegowda of the ‘Janapada Loka’ fame and folklorists G.S. Paramasivayya, K.R. Krishanswamy and Nalkundi Srirangamma; G. Venkatasubbaiah, the lexicographer; G. Narayana a service-minded personality in various fields; all these luminaries hailing from this district have done yeoman service to their respective field of work. Apart from these, geologist M.B. Ramachandrarao; great artistes A.N. Subbarao, S.R. Iyengar and M.T.V. Acharya; the famous danseuses and film artistes Vyjayanthi Bali and Jayalalitha; musician Belakawadi Srinivasa Iyengar also belong origi- nally to the district of Mandya. M.C. Alasinga Perumal (1865-1909), the journal- ist hailed by Swami Vivekananda also comes from Mandya. The centenarian littérateur A.N. Murthy Rao, K.S. Narasimhaswamy the poet of ‘Mysore Mallige’ fame and Pu.Thi. Narasimhachar, the writer in the tradition of Bhagavathas is the recipient of the prestigious Pampa award. Let us first have a glimpse of the literary tradition of the district as documented in the inscriptions. The poets of the inscriptions The inscriptions found across the district, which provide source material for the study of the language, literary tradition and cultural heritage, make Literature and Culture 741 more use of verse forms such as kanda and sloka. Some inscriptions contain more of slokas than other verse forms. A Jaina inscription of the eleventh or the twelfth century found in Elekoppa of Nagamangala taluk is composed entirely in kandas, except the portion mentioning the poet’s name. A hero-stone originally belonging to Athakur of Maddur taluk (found near the temple of Challeswara and presently in the Government Museum at Bangalore) dated 950 A.D., narrates in a very memorable style how certain Manalara of the Sagara lineage and an officer under Immadi Buthuga of Ganga dynasty, got a hound named Kali from the Rastrakuta king Mummadi Krishna. But the inscription does not have the name of the composer of the inscription. An inscription dated 1138 A.D. of Lalanakere in Nagamangala taluk cites that one Satkavi Santhamahanthasa, a dear one to Somiyakka, composed its text. Another inscription found here and dated 1165 A.D. contains a line citing that Shanthakavi, the composer of its text was the grandson of Dakshina Hemma. The edict has 13 stanzas in Kanda metre and seven stanzas in various Vrithas. The same poet is also the author of an inscription of Arasikere (no.48). An inscription near Vydyanatheswara temple at Vydyananathapura of Maddur taluk makes a mention of an endowment to deity Swayambhu Vyjanathadeva at Kalalenadu made by Hoysala Kethaya Dandanayaka in 1183 A.D. But the edict does not contain the name of its composer. Another Jaina inscription at Arethippur belonging to the during the reign of Hoysala Viraballala II (1220-1238 A.D.) gives a poetic account of one Balachandradeva, a follower of Jaina faith and a poet, making partition of his property among his sons. This edict is laid in memory of his father Kandarpadeva and mother Sonnadevi; and from this we could surmise that poet Balachandradeva be- longed to this village. This poet is the author of two poems as per mention made by Janna and Parswanata in their respective works namely, ‘Ananthanathapurana’ and ‘Parswanatahapurana’ An inscription of Basaralu dated 1234 A.D. laid during the reign of Hoysala Immadi Narasimha and another one dated 1247 A.D. of the time of Hoysala Someswara contains a verse which means that “the eminent poet Chidananda, the son of Paramaprakasha Yogiswara composed the text to the appreciation of the whole world”. This makes it sure that poet Chidananda was the son of Paramaprakasha Yogiswara. A stanza of this edict is found in ‘Suktisudharnava’ and hence the scholars are of the opinion that this edict is a major source to decide its date. 742 Mandya District Gazetteer Nrisimha authored an inscription in 1381 A.D. found at Aruvanhalli of Maddur taluk during the period of Harihara, the ruler of Vijayanagar. The edict contains verses in metres such as Sloka, Mattebhavikriditha, Malini and Uthpalmale. A copper plate (dated 1473) found in Sujjalur of Malavalli taluk and prepared during the reign of Virupaksha was composed by Dugnapa, the son of Madhavaradhya; and Rayasa Swamyvallabha the son of Aithaparya, did the engraving, One Swayambhu Sabhapathi, a court poet of Krishnadevaraya is the composer of the text of as many as five copper plates issued during the reign of Krishnadevaraya and his successors. They are the one each of Dodda Jataka of Nagamangala taluk (1512 A.D.), Mandya ((1516 A.D.), Byaladakere of Krishnarajapet ((1532 A.D.), Huragalawadi of Maddur taluk (1533 A.D.) and Honnenahalli of Nagamangala taluk (1545A.D.). All of them are in Sanskrit. A copper plate of Honnalagere dated 1623 A.D. is composed in Kannada as well as Sanskrit and is written in Nagari script. It indicates that its text was prepared by Nrisimhakavi, son of Nrisimha and a disciple of Nanjinatha Gajaranya (Talakadu). The plate prepared during the reign of Vira Ramadevaraya of Aravidu dynasty was engraved by one Thimmappa, son of Singari. The plate contains seventy two lines and has verses in Malini vritta, Sloka and kanda. A poet by name Narasimha Suri, son of Srinivasa of Koushika lineage is the composer of a copperplate dated 1647 A.D. of Melukote. This poet Narasimhasuri is described I the plate as being sell-versed in Vedas and Shastras and a head jewel of Koushika lineage. A copper plate in Tonnur temple at Pandavapura (1722 A.D.), two of Kanchimatha of Melukote (1724 A.D. and 1125 A.D.) are in both Kannada and Sanskrit, all of them composed by Ramayanam Thirumaleyacharya. He is lauded in these plates as a refined poet in Kannada, Telugu and Sanskrit languages; and a reciter of epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharatha. A rare metrical composition by name ‘talagrahi vritta’ known in prosodic works as a variety in the category of malavrittas is found in a copper plate dated 1724 A.D. of Pandavapura. The plate contains sixteen sheets and has 733 long lines; and this is supposed to be a treatise on prosody. The verses in this work are examples of good composition; and a few of them are incorporated by Singararya in his play “Mitravinda Govinda’. A few of the verses from this plate are found in ‘Aprathimaviracharitha’ as well. He is the author of inscriptions found in places such as Devanagara, Thondanur, Kalale and Kanchi. Literature and Culture 743 An inscription found in Gumbaz at Srirangapattana contains the descrip- tion of the death of Tipu in a heart rending style and the edict is engraved by Abdul Khader. Ancient Literature Ramanujacharya