Āmuktamālyada ( te, ఆముక్తమాల్యద) is a

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode ...

epic poem composed by

Krishnadevaraya Krishnadevaraya (17 January 1471 – 17 October 1529) was an emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire, also known as the Karnata Empire, reigning from 1509 to 1529. He was the third monarch of the Tuluva dynasty, and is considered to be one of the ...

, the

Vijayanagara Vijayanagara () was the capital city of the historic Vijayanagara Empire. Located on the banks of the Tungabhadra River, it spread over a large area and included the modern era Group of Monuments at Hampi site in Vijayanagara district, Bell ...

Emperor in the early 16th century. Amuktamalyada translates to "One who offered the garland after wearing it himself". Considered as a masterpiece, Amuktamalyada describes the story of wedding of the

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

Lord Ranganayaka, an avatar, of

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" withi ...

and Goda Devi aka

Andal Andal ( ta, ஆண்டாள்), also known as Kothai, Nachiyar, and Godadevi, was the only female Alvar among the twelve Hindu poet-saints of South India. She was posthumously considered an avatar of the goddess Bhudevi. As with the A ...

the

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...

Alvar poet and daughter of

Periyalvar Periyalvar (), also known as Vishnuchittar, was one of the twelve '' Alvar'' saints of South India who are known for their affiliation to the Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism. He was the foster father of Andal. Andal, also called as Kodhai, is ...

, at Srirangam.

Krishnadevaraya

Krishnadevaraya was the king of the

Vijayanagara Empire The Vijayanagara Empire, also called the Karnata Kingdom, was a Hindu empire based in the region of South India, which consisted the modern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and some parts of Telangana and Mahar ...

reigning between 1509–1530. He was the third ruler of the Tuluva Dynasty, and presided over the Vijayanagara empire at its zenith. Krishna Deva Raya earned the titles of ''Kannada Rajya Rama Ramana'' (''lit'', "Lord of the Kannada empire"), ''Andhra Bhoja'' and ''Mooru Rayara Ganda'' (''lit'', "King of three Kings"). He became the dominant ruler of the peninsula of India by defeating the

Sultans of Bijapur Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...

Golconda Fort (Telugu: గోల్కొండ, romanized: ''Gōlkōnḍa'') is a historic fortress and ruined city located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. It was originally called Mankal. The fort was originally built by Kakatiya ruler Pratāparu ...

, the

Bahmani Sultanate The Bahmani Sultanate, or Deccan, was a Persianate Sunni Muslim Indian Kingdom located in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan region. It was the first independent Muslim kingdom of the Deccan,

and the

Gajapati Kingdom The Gajapati Empire or the Suryavamsa (IAST: Sūryavaṃśa, "Solar dynasty") dynasty was a medieval dynasty from the Indian subcontinent, it originated in the region of Trikalinga (most of the present-day Odisha and North coastal Andhra) a ...

Orissa Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of S ...

. Krishnadevaraya during his reign patronised many

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

and

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

poets. His court had 8

poets (Astadiggajalu) - Allasani Peddana,

Nandi Thimmana Nandi Thimmana (15th and 16th centuries CE) was a Telugu poet and one of the '' Astadiggajas'' (literally eight elephants) in the court of the king Krishnadevaraya. He is often called Mukku Thimmana (Thimmana of the nose) after his celebrated p ...

Madayyagari Mallana Mallana (15th century) was a Telugu poet and one of the '' Astadiggajas'' (literally means eight elephants) in the court of the king Krishnadevaraya. Biography He said that his birthplace was part of Rayalaseema (means land ruled by Rayas, Vija ...

Dhurjati Dhurjati (or ధూర్ఝటి) (c. 15th and 16th centuries, CE) was a Telugu poet in the court of the king Krishnadevaraya and was one of the ''astadiggajalu'' (Translated "Eight Mighty Elephants ") there. Biography He was born to Singam ...

, Ayyala-raju Rama-Bhadrudu,

Pingali Surana Pingali Suranna (16th century CE) was a Telugu poet and was one of the '' Astadiggajas''. Early life Suranna's exact birthplace is uncertain. He lived in Kanala village near Nandyala. Suranna's parents were Abbamamba (mother) and Amarana (fa ...

, Ramaraja Bhushanudu and Tenali Rama Krishna. The Kannada poets Mallanarya who wrote ''Bhava-chinta-ratna'' and ''Satyendra Chola-kathe'' and Chatu Vittal-anatha who wrote ''Bhagavata'' also enjoyed his patronage. The Tamil poet

Haridasa The Haridasa Bhakti Sahitya devotional movement ( sampradaya) originated in Karnataka, India, after Madhvacharya, and spread to eastern states such as Bengal and Assam of medieval India. Over a span of nearly six centuries, several saints and ...

and Tamil literature were patronised by Krishnadevaraya. The Sanskrit poet

Vyasatirtha Vyāsatīrtha (. 1460 – 1539), also called ''Vyasaraja'' or ''Chandrikacharya'', was a Hindu philosopher, scholar, polemicist, commentator and poet belonging to the Madhwacharya's Dvaita order of Vedanta. As the patron saint of the Vija ...

who wrote ''Bhedo-jjivana'', ''Tat-parya-chandrika'', ''Nyaya-mrita'' (a work directed against Advaita philosophy) and ''Tarka-tandava'' enjoyed his patronage. Krishnadevaraya was himself an accomplished Sanskrit scholar and wrote ''Madalasa Charita'', ''Satyavadu Parinaya'' and ''Rasamanjari'' and ''Jambavati Kalyana''

Andal

Andal is the only female among the 12

Vaishnava Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...

Tamil saints - the

Alvars The Alvars ( ta, ஆழ்வார், Āḻvār, translit-std=ISO, lit=The Immersed) were the Tamil poet-saints of South India who espoused '' bhakti'' (devotion) to the Hindu preserver deity Vishnu, in their songs of longing, ecstasy, an ...

. According to tradition, Andal was born in

Srivilliputtur Srivilliputhur (), is a Municipality in Virudhunagar district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. As of 2011, the town had a population of 75,396. The most important landmark of Srivilliputhur is 11-tiered tower structure dedicated to the Vatapat ...

. She was found as an infant, abandoned under a basil ( Tulasi -

Ocimum tenuiflorum ''Ocimum tenuiflorum'', commonly known as holy basil, ''tulsi'' or ''tulasi'', is an aromatic perennial plant in the family Lamiaceae. It is native to the Indian subcontinent and widespread as a cultivated plant throughout the Southeast Asian ...

) tree, by Vishnucitta (or

) who himself was an Alvar poet. It is said that Periyalvar recocognised the child as Bhudevi, the consort of Lord

(p. 36). Active in the 7th-century, Andal is credited with the

works,

Thiruppavai The Thiruppavai ( Tamil: திருப்பாவை) is a set of Tamil devotional religious hymns attributed to the female poet-saint Andal (also known as Nachiyar, Kodhai or Goda Devi). She is considered the manifestation of Bhudevi, who ha ...

and

Nachiar Tirumozhi ''Nachiyar Tirumoli'' (; ) is a set of 143 verses composed by Andal, one of the twelve Alvars in Vaishnava tradition. In her restlessness and eagerness to attain Kannan (Krishna), Andal attempts various methods by which she can attain union w ...

, which are still recited by devotees during the winter festival season of Margazhi. Andal is known for her unwavering devotion to Lord

, the God of the Srivaishnavas. The Srivilliputhur Temple in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

is dedicated to her, marking her birthplace. Some of Andal's verses express love for Lord Vishnu, written with bold sensuality and startlingly savage longing, hunger and inquiry, that even today many of her most erotic poems are rarely rendered publicly.

Krishnadevaraya's Amuktamalyada

It is believed that Krishnadevaraya wrote the work, after getting a dream in the portico of the Srikakula Andhra Maha Vishnu temple, in the Srikakulam Village (today's

Krishna District Krishna district is district in the coastal Andhra Region in Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, with Machilipatnam as its administrative headquarters. It is the coastal district of Andhra Pradesh. Machilipatnam is the most populated city in the ...

) on the banks of river Krishna, in which Lord

Andhra Maha Vishnu Andhra Vishnu, better known as Srikakula Mahavishnu statue, was set up in Andhra in a pre-existing older temple. The previous deistic form worshiped in the temple is unknown. Āndhra Vishnu temple The deity of the temple is known as ''Andhr ...

appeared and instructed him to write the story of his wedding to Andal at Srirangam in Telugu. In his dream, on being asked why Telugu was chosen, Lord Vishnu is said to have replied Which translates to: "If you ask, 'Why Telugu?' It is because this is Telugu country and I am a Telugu king. Telugu is sweet. After speaking with all the kings that serve you, didn’t you realize - amongst all the languages in the country, Telugu is the best!". Amuktamalyada describes pain of separation (viraha) experienced by Andal, who is described as the incarnate of

Lakshmi Lakshmi (; , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility and prosperity, and associated with '' Maya'' ("Illusion"). A ...

the consort of

. Further the poem describes Andal's beauty in 30 verses written in the keśādi-pādam style, starting from her hair, going down her body till her feet.

References

{{reflist https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Vyankatesh_Devanpalli_Aamuktamalyada_Srikrishnadev?id=gR9FDwAAQBAJ Art and culture of Vijayanagar Empire Indian literature Telugu-language literature Medieval Indian literature Alvars