Kannada poetry

Dattatreya Ramachandra Bendre

(ದರಾ ಬೇಂದ್ರೆ)

Pre-history

Kannada poetry has been traced back to around 5th century A.D, though none of those early works have been found. The earliest extant poetry in tripadi meter are the

Adipurana

he set a trend of poetic excellence for the Kannada poets of the future.

Kannada poetry called

economic conditions. More importantly, they hold a mirror to the seed of a social revolution, which caused a radical re-examination of the ideas of caste, creed and religion. One of the important ideas coming out of this revolution was the view that Work is worship and a path to spirituality

.

Bhakti

Kannada poets have the unique distinction of sowing the seeds of one of the richest forms of classical music:

Bhakta or devotee to be one with God. This form of poetry was highly amenable to musical composition and exposition. This music evolved into the highly sophisticated and codified Carnatic music

.

The Haridasas spread the message of peace, love and bhakti in their

Dasa Sahitya

, which are also popularly known as Devaranamas.

Navodaya (New birth)

Navodaya figuratively means a new birth. The early 20th Century saw a

mother tongue and started writing poetry in Kannada. Kuvempu is a case in point who was convinced by his professor (of British origin) that he should write in his mother tongue. Kuvempu went on to become a "Rashtrakavi" (national poet). His love of nature, realisation of the greatness of man's spirit and the vision to see the blend of nature and God made him more than Kannada's Wordsworth. Another interesting case is that of Shivaram Karanth who was a man of great intellect, rock-solid convictions and a profound social sense. He was known as the Leonardo da Vinci

of Karnataka.

Navya (New)

freedom and a new genre sprouted in Kannada poetry. The torch-bearer of this tradition was Gopalakrishna Adiga

. The Navya poets wrote for and liked disillusioned intellectuals. The sophistication in the use of language and the importance of technique to poetry reached new heights in this genre.

Other genres

Kannada poetry in the last 50 years has been closely related to social aspects. The caste system gave rise to the Bandaya and Dalita genres of poetry. The atrocities against women and the general ill-treatment meted out to them in Indian society gave rise to the Stri (Woman) genre of poetry.

Awards

Kannada poetry has won eight

Jnanapeeth

awards, the second highest for any other Indian language after Hindi.

Reaching people

The popularity of poetry is gauged in terms of the response that the educated and interested elite give. But the real popularity of poetry is when common people sing it. Popular appeal is not very easy to achieve for any form of poetry; especially when audiences are not kept in mind. Kannada poetry has a few instances of such mass popularity.

Kumaravyasa's retelling of the Mahabharata is recited in homes even today. Bhavageete

(figuratively "emotion poetry") has popularized many Kannada poems and has people humming them.