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Telugu
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Among the Dravidian languages, Telugu exhibits
the greatest influence of Sanskrit. Telugu literature is generally divided
into six periods :
In the earliest period there are only inscriptions from 575 A.D. onwards. Nannaya's (1022-1063) translation of the Sanskrit Mahabharata into Telugu is the first piece of Telugu literature as yet discovered. After the death of Nannaya there was a kind of social and religious revolution in the Telugu country. Virasaivism propagated Bhakti towards Shiva as the only means of attaining salvation. Tikkana (13th century) and Yerrana (14th century) continued the translation of the Mahabharata started by Nannaya. Yerrana was also a devotee of Shiva. Quite a few poets continued writing in Telugu and we come to the age of Srinatha. During this period some Telugu poets translated Sanskrit poems and dramas while others attempted original narrative poems. The popular Telugu literary form called the Prabandha evolved during this period. Srinatha (1365-1441) is the formost poet who popularized this form of composition. Srinathas Naishadham is particularly well known. We may also refer to the Ramayana poets. The earliest Ramayana in Telugu is generally known as the Ranganath Ramayana authored by Gona Buddha Reddi. Then there are great religious poets like Potana (1450-1510), Jakkana (14th century) and Gaurana (15th century) The golden period of the Telugu literature is the 16th and 17th centuries. Krishnadevaraya's Amuktamalayamada is regarded as a Mahakavya. Peddana's Manu Charita is another outstanding Mahakavya. Telugu literature flourished in the south in areas like Madurai, Thanjavoor, etc. and that is why the age itself is called the Southern Period. With the conquest of Deccan by the Mughals, there was a period of decadence (1750-1850) in literature. Then emerged a period of transition (1850-1910) following a long period of Renaissance. European savants like C.P.Brown played an important role in the development of Telugu literature and language. The Telugu literature of this time was greatly influenced by European forms like the novels, the short stories, prose, drama, belles, letters etc. The father of modern Telugu literature is K.Veeresalingam Pantulu (1848-1919) who wrote a novel, Rajashekhara Charitamu inspired by the Vicar of Wakefield. He was followed by Rayaprola Subba Rao, Gurajada Appa Rao, Vishwanath Satyanarayana, Katuri Venkateshvara Rao, Joshua, Devulapalli Venkata Krishna Sastri, Sri Sri, Puttaparthy Narayana Charlu and others in the sphere of poetry. Viswanath Satyanarayana has won the coveted Jnanpith Award. Kanyasulkam (bride money) the first social play in Telugu by Gurajada Appa Rao was a thumping success. We also find the progressive movement, free verse movementb and the Digambara style finding expression in the Telugu literature. The well known modern Telugu novelists are Unnava Lakshminarayana (of Malapalli fame), Viswanatha Satyanarayana (Veyipadagalu), KutumbaRao and Buchi Babu. Telugu is specially known for its daring experiments in the field of poetry and drama. |
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