Aayvagam An International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research Volume 4 |Issue 12|January 2017 16 ISSN (Online): 2321 – 5259 ISSN (Print): 2321 – 5739

Literary Development During Nayak Period In -A Study. R.Rajakumaran* and Dr.V.Ravichandran** *Ph.D Research Scholar, Department Of History, A.V.V.M Sri Pushpam College (Autonomous) Poondi **Associate Professor Of History, Department Of History,A.V.V.M Sri Pushpam College (Autonomous) Poondi.

The development of literature received a special attention by rulers of Nayaks, who extended all benevolent helps to scholars of different languages. As a sequel, a volume of literary texts appeared in Telugu, and Tamil. Also different literary talents resulted in the production of new varieties.

The history of the library is in itself of absorbing interest. After the sun had set on the Chola dynasty, the kingdom became with time a province of the great Vijayanagar empire, whose rulers installed their deputies (or nayaks) to govern the lands, the ‘deputies’ turning later into Nayak kings, who founded a dynasty of their own in Thanjavur in the middle of the 16th century. But a century and a quarter later, in 1674, the Nayak power was supplanted by that of the Marathas. It is to the Nayaks and the Marathas that the library owes its existence and its growth.

The Nayaks, following widespread royal precedents, created their own Saraswati Bhandara: a repository of learning, invoking the goddess Saraswati, in the form of texts and illustrated manuscripts. But it was under the Marathas really that the library grew dramatically, the name most intimately associated with it being that of Serfoji II (reigned 1798-1832), that remarkable ruler, whose name the library now bears, being called the "Maharaja Serfoji Saraswati Mahal Library". Serfoji’s (also named sometimes as Sarabhoji) is a name that reverberates throughout Thanjavur, and the story of his own development is most unusual. Neglected on account of politics in his childhood years, and nearly deprived of his succession rights, he came under the tutelage of Rev. Schwartz, a Danish missionary, something that determined the course of his interests, perhaps of his life. Traditional learning apart, the young man was exposed to, and took to, western culture like almost no other royal of his own times. Telugu Telugu, being the mother tongue as well as the official language of the Nayaks of Thanjavur, gained greater importance. More number of literary works was generated. Among them, the most significant development was the introduction of ‘Yakshagyana’ literature in Telugu, as a sequel to the introduction of the new concept in the field of art namely, the Dance Drama ‘Yakshagyanam’. It was a dramatic composition, which clearly included dance and song, occasionally upon the stage accompanied by musical instruments. They mixed Telugu with colloquial Tamil in Telugu Script1. This type of literature attained great familiarity in classical work of Telugu. The theme mainly concentrated on love affairs of the rulers and mythological anecdotes. Ragunatha Nayak himself took great interest and composed this Yakshaganam. The works of ‘Gajendra Motshamu’, ‘Rukmani Krishna vivahamu’ and ‘Janaki Parinayamu’ were his contributions which all reflect the mythological themes2. The period also witnessed the richness of ‘Prabandha’ literature in the Telugu language which reflected folly styles and themes. ‘Valmiki Charithra’ was the best example for this category written by Ragunatha Nayak. More numbers of ‘kaviya’ works were also written in this period. The kaviya was narrative type of literature, mixing poetry with prose. Shimmakura venkatakavi Sarangadhra charitham and Vijaya vilasamu were the best kavyas3. The works of Ragunathabhudayamu of Ramabhadramba, Shahityaratangara of Naharayana Dikishita Achutabhudayamu of Ragunatha were also in Kavya style. Ragunatha also wrote Telugu poetic work on the Ramayana and Nala Charithra. Thus Ragunatha Nayak for his outstanding contribution to Telugu language and literature earned the title ‘Kaviraja’4. The reign of Vijayrahava was the “Golden Age” of Telugu language and literature. He himself contributed much for greater output of literary works in Telugu. More Poets and Poetesses adorned his court. Chengulva Kalakavi was the court Poet. Rangajamma, Krishnaji and Leelavathy were the noted poetesses in Telugu. Aayvagam An International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research Volume 4 |Issue 12|January 2017 17 ISSN (Online): 2321 – 5259 ISSN (Print): 2321 – 5739

Rangajamma had the ability to compose poems in eight languages. Her work ‘Mannarudasa Vilasamu’ is considered as a prabandha and dramatic in nature 5. Her work ‘Ramayana Sangarahamu’, ‘Bharata Sangarahamu’ and ‘Bhagavatha Sangarahamu’ were in prose forms. Her prabandha works deal with the dramatic marriage between Gantimali and Mannarudasa. She was honoured with Kanakabhiseka by Vijayrahava Nayak for her outstanding contribution in literature 6. Another Poetess, Krishnamba in Vijayrahava Court had the capacity of completing any given verse. Leelavathy was considered a poetess of the Vijayrahava’s time, but her works are not available. Mannarudasa wrote a biographical work of his father known as ‘Vijayrahava Bhudhayamu’. Another work on divine marriage between Lord Rajagopalaswamy and Hemlaji in dramatic form was also his contribution7. Another drama ‘Vijayrahava’s kalyanamu’ of Koneti Dikshita Chandra depicted the marriage of Vijayrahava with Mandanamanjari. A drama known as ‘Thanjapura mahanatakam’ brought out the daily feeding of five thousand Brahmins by Vijayrahava8. Vijayrahava chandri kaviharamu was the outstanding drama of court poet Pattampu kavi which narrates the marriage between Vijayrahava and Leelavathi. The drama such as Prahalada charithramu, Putanaharamu and krishnavikasamu written by Vijayarahava revealed the heroic acts of Lord Krishna. Another drama Viranarayana charitra described the life of Thondaradipodi Alwar one among the thirteen Alwars. The drama Sengamalavalli parinayamu, dakshinavaralaru and Shtala varanamu informed about the god and goddess of Mannargudi Rajagopalaswami. Other dramas Govardha Oddaharanamu, Janaki kalyanamu, Kamsa vijayamu, Kaliyamardanamu, Radhi Manmatharanamu, Rukmani kalyanamu, and Sathyabhama vivahamu were all the outstanding Telugu dramas. To sum up, as many as 54 poets and poetess including the royal poet Vijayrahava enriched the Telugu language by their contributions and as such the period of Nayaks witnessed the growth of Telugu literature to the apex9. The Telugu literature continued to have its development under the aegis of the Maratha who though were conquerors, extended patronage to the language of the conquered. Shahji and Tulaja threw their might for enriching Telugu. The Bhagavatha Mela drama such as the ‘Rama pattabisheka nataka’, ‘Ganga Cauvery samvath nataka’, ‘Gandhimathi parari nataka’, ‘Girthavilasa’, ‘Krishna leela’, ‘Kusalava sathpathy’, ‘Dhanavilasa nataka’, ‘Saraswathi Kalyana nataka’, ‘Salakrtia nataka’, ‘Southakalyanam nataka’ and ‘Bakthavasala vilasa nataka’10 were the outstanding contributions during the reign of shahji who also composed a grammar book in Telugu known as ‘Thiagarajar vinodha Charithra prabanda’11. During his reign, the drama ‘saraswathi kalyanam’ was written. A Modi record informs that the Telugu drama ‘Sahendra Vilasam’ was the work of Sridhar12. Other important Telugu dramas ‘Sivagamasundari Parinayam’13 and ‘Thiyagarja vilasa yakshakanam’ were written in Telugu script. The important Telugu grammar was the work of Govinda Kavi. In common with Shahji literary activities in Telugu, he composed 20 plays in Telugu of yakshakana and veethi nataka14. In connection with others’ contribution to Telugu language and literature, Aaluri Kuppanna who was popularly known as ‘Andhra kalidasa’15 wrote ‘Aachariya Vijaya pancharatha talapuranam’, ‘parama bagavatha charithiram’16, ‘Bhagavatha yashakanam’ and ‘Harikatha sudharsham’ were all outstanding works in Telugu language. The ruler Ekoji II himself took interest in writing Telugu works. The dramas ‘Samsheba ramayanam’, ‘Ekoji raya sahitham’ and ‘Vinayagar kalyanam’ portrayed his love for Telugu language17. The principles of vaishnavism and the glory of Lord Krishna were explained in the drama ‘Rukmankatha charithiram’. For his contribution, the author of this work got the inam land at Mahimalai near Ammapet. ‘Radhika swantanamu’ was the work of poetess Muthupalani which was considered an epic. Along with rulers, the nobles also patronized the development of Telugu language and literature. They received free lands from the rulers for their contributions to the language and literature. Sanskrit Sanskrit occupied important place among all the languages in Thanjavur, like other parts of where more number of Sanskrit works were produced. It was considered as a language for literary and religious works. Sanskrit works in all forms were patronized. The Brahmanical culture with its Sanskrit influence was the main player in this regard. The greater influence was that Non-brahmins too contributed some of the literary Aayvagam An International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research Volume 4 |Issue 12|January 2017 18 ISSN (Online): 2321 – 5259 ISSN (Print): 2321 – 5739 works in Sanskrit. In the early period of study Sanskrit language in its original form was used but during the Maratha period the Devanagiri script was used18. Govinda Dikshitar, the prime minister of Sevappa and Achuthappa Nayaks took interest for the cause of Sanskrit language. He himself wrote the works Kaumariladar Sarana and Sangitha Sudha. Ragunatha Nayak like his guru took care of its development. Sahityaratanayaka informs that Ragunatha Nayak contributed a good number of Kavyas, Prabandhas, and Yakshakanas in Sanskrit language19. He himself wrote three important works in Sanskrit. Along with Achyutabudayamu, a biographical work of his father, the dramas parijata harna and Nalabhudayamu were also his contributions20. The works Ramayana Sarangraha and Bharata Sarasangraha reflected his interest in vaishnavism. The poem Alankara Rathinaharam was the monumental work of Yakshanarayana Dikshitar, son of Govinda Dikshitar21. Raja Sudamani Dikshita was another important poet in the court of Ragunatha Nayak. His Sanskrit works include Niyaya Karpura Varthikam22, Thanthira Sigamaru23, Kavya Tharpanam24, Kamalini Kala Kamsa25, Ramayana Sampu, Sankara Kanya Muthu Vani, Thathva Chinthamani, Vijakya and Anandapaham. Ragunatha Nayak, himself a born genius, created several works like Parisataharna Valmiki Charithra, Gajendra Moksha and Nala Charithra. Maduravani was the poetess in Ragunatha’s court, who performed Kanakabiseka to her for the excellent work on Ramayana. Her other works Kumara Sambhava and Naishadham added her glory in the literary field. Venkateswaramahi, the third son of Govinda Dikshitar produced the works of sahitya samrajya, sudbamimamsa karmantavararitika and Katur dandi prakesika. Achuthappa Nayak donated a village known as Vishupuranam in to Vilinath, a poet who contributed a Sanskrit Nataka Madanamanjari and Aahamic work Aahama panchahasti. Along with the Nataka, the Kavya works sustained narrative types in elevated style frequently mixed poetry and prose form in Nayak period. Sanskrit works of the period of the Marathas were plenty in number. The Maratha rulers themselves made a number of Sanskrit works. Of a total of three hundred and eighty two works of the period, one hundred and twenty nine are Sanskrit works26, of which nineteen were authored by the rulers themselves. Particularly Shahji period witnessed the golden era in the Sanskrit literary history of Thanjavur. Chandrasekara Vilasam27, Saptharathina Samannvayam and Saptharathna Sangraham were his contributions. The works of Kumara Sambava Campu and Raja Vasantham were written by Sarabhoji I28. The music work Sangitha Saramrtham was a contribution of Tulaja I29. Danvantri Vilasam and Danvanthri saranidhi were the great medical works by Tulaja II along with Enakula Rajethchonidhi30 an astrology book and a dharma sastra work, Dharmasastra Sangirabai31. The dramatical works, Rathimanmatha32 and Thirupuravijay champa by Jaganather and Srisalva respectively were the important works during the Ekoji period. Biographical works, Rahava Charithiram and Sarabhoji Charitharam were contributed by Pancharathana and Andavanarayana respectively. The other works Aanndhavalli Sthothram by Rama pathar, palhanjali charithiram and a drama Janaki Parinayam were the outcome in the first half of eighteenth century along with the works Shrunkara Thilakam which gave information about Pujankasekar, the Madura ruler who maintained close contact with the Maratha of Thanjavur. Ramabavasthavam, Rama sabasthavam, Prasasthavam, Vishnu karbasthavam, Parvayoktri Nishayantham, Thuliresthavam and Ramapathrashthakam were the contributions of Ramapathrar. Kavirakshasa a contemporary of shahji II wrote a beautiful drama Rasathilkapanam. In recognition of his scholarship, shahji donated him a village with a lot of money. Chokkanatha was another prominent court poet of shahji who wrote dramas charindika parinayam and Gandhimathi parinayam. The first one described marriage between Basavaraja and Seivindika in Malabar region and the latter drama portrays the marriage of Shahji II and Gandhimathi. Rajavilasam was his third drama33. Sadasiva mahisramavarma mayasobhusanam and Dharmavijaya champu by Chokkanatha were the great dramatic works. The writer Venkatakrishna wrote an important work Natesavilasam apart from a number of dramas and kavyas. Sahendra vilasam by Sridhara Venkatesh mentioned the history of shahji. Saraboji II collected more numbers of Sanskrit books and manuscripts and deposited them in Saraswathi Mahal library, Thanjavur34.

Aayvagam An International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research Volume 4 |Issue 12|January 2017 19 ISSN (Online): 2321 – 5259 ISSN (Print): 2321 – 5739

Tamil. Tamil, the language of the land, had not progressed during the time of Nayaks, as the other languages had, for the fact that it was not given the status of court language. Telugu became the official language. Some Tamil works translated into Telugu and some Telugu works were converted into Tamil. Contrary to the period of the Nayaks, the attained greater progress during the period of the Marathas. The patronage of Maratha rulers especially Shahji to Tamil language and literature was remarkable. Tamil dramas more in production on this period attained greater perfection. Among them, the Natiya nataka, Bhagavatha Mela occupied an important place. Many kuravanji type of dramas were written by the rulers as well as Tamil poets. The ruler Shahji himself wrote Thiagesar kuravanji of which the God Thiagesar was the hero of the play35. His work ‘cauvery kalyanam’ was written in Tamil language with Telugu script36. Shahji kuravanji and Mohinivilasa kuravanji were the compositions of the court poet of Shahji Mathukavirayar. Shahji was the center of attraction in the above works37. Sarabendra Boobala kuranvanji, Sankaranarayana Natakam and Sivagangai Parinayam were the important dramas written during this period. The other important dramatic literature was Thiruvidaimaruthur nondi natakam written by Anandabharathi. Sathanar nondi natakam was another one whose author is not known. In this play a lame man with one leg (the other leg was cut off for his crime) expressed humorously his story for causing his problem with full applause of the audience. Puranic works were also made with the patronage of the rulers especially by Shahji. Two puranic works Kumbakona puranam and Aathichudi puranam were written by Chokkapulavar and Muthambala vathiyar respectively. The Maruthuva puranam and seekazhi puranam were the latter works of the Marathas. Sivabaratha charithiram written during the reign of sarabohji I, there was the glimpse of war between the Muslims and the Maratha rulers in Thanjavur region. Thoodhu, a branch of literature, assumed importance in the region. Centalakaran viralividu thoodhu is one such. Centalakaran was a village attavanai. In commemoration of his charitable activities, this work was written. Andathi, Pillaithamil were also branches of Tamil literature in which contributions were made during these periods. Thus the Tamil language received the royal patronage in the eighteenth century when sixty two Tamil works were produced.

References

1. V. Narayanaswamy Rao, David Shulman and Sanjay Subramaniyam. Symbols and substance court and state in Nayaka Period 2. Venkata Rao, The southern school in Telugu Literature,p.11. 3. Ibid, p.335. 4. V.Narayanarao, David Shulman and Sanjay Subramanian,Op.cit.,p.336 5. Venkata Rao,Op.cit.,p.13 6. Ibid,p.19 7. Direct interview with viswanatham Telugu pandit, dated on 20.6.2005 8. V.Narayana Rao, David Shulman and Sanjay subramanian Op.cit., p.337. 9. P.P.S sastri, Introduction to the descriptive catlogue of the T.M.S.s.ML Thanjavur. 10. ArivudaiNambi.Thanjai Marathiar valartha Nunkalaikal unpublished D.Lit.Thesis,Appendix-1. 11. S.Seetha,Tanjore a seat of music , p.79. 12. C.venkatasami Biographical sketches of Deccan poets compiled from authentic documents Calcutta. 13. ArivudaiNambi Op.cit., p.1 14. Modi manuscripts,no 2906 15. Ibid,2395 16. R.C. majumdar and V.G Dighe the History culture of Indian People vol. VIII p.676. 17. Bhima Rao marathia Illakiyankal procedure of the Thanjai Arasar Modi records conference 18. sahityaratna nayaka canto Vi s10 66-67 19. P.P.S sastri descriptive catalogue of the Sanskrit manuscript in Tanjore saraswathi mahal library 1934. Aayvagam An International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research Volume 4 |Issue 12|January 2017 20 ISSN (Online): 2321 – 5259 ISSN (Print): 2321 – 5739

20 Sanskirit manuscript, no 4221 saraswathi mahal library. 21. Ibid no.6921 22 Ibid no.6841 23 Ibid no.5152 24. Ibid no.4698 25. Arivudai nimbi, Op.cit., Appendix II p.9 26 sanskirit manuscript Vol VIII no.4059 Saraswathi mahal library. 27. Ibidno.4030 28 Ibid no.17661 29. Ibid no.11323-26 30Ibid no.18750-52 31Ibid no.4488 32 S.Srinivasan, sanskirit language and literature, Proceedings of the Thanjai marathi arasar modi conference, . 33. Perama latha, Theagesar kuravansi, saraswathi mahal library, Thanjavur. 34. N.Venkatramaiah Op.cit., p.218. 35.Venugopal, Iyudhu naatya nataham, p.37 36. Ananda Bharathi, Thiruvidaimaruthur noondi natakam, mahalinga devasthanam, Thiruvidai maruthur