Dhurjati (or ధూర్ఝటి) (c. 15th and 16th centuries, CE) was 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 ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or w ...

in the

court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in acco ...

of the

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, queen, which title is also given to the queen consort, consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contempora ...

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 ...

and was one of the '' astadiggajalu'' (Translated "Eight Mighty Elephants ") there.

Biography

He was born to Singamma and Narayana in

Sri Kalahasti Srikalahasti is a holy town in Tirupati district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality and the revenue division of Srikalahasti mandal & Srikalahasti revenue division. It is a part of Tirupati Urban Development Authority, wh ...

and was the grandson of Jakkayya. He was a great devotee of lord

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one o ...

, also known as ''Kalahasteeshwara.'' He referred to his birthplace as part of ''Pottapi Nadu'', named after an earlier

Chola The Chola dynasty was a Tamil thalassocratic empire of southern India and one of the longest-ruling dynasties in the history of the world. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated to the 3rd century BCE d ...

kingdom based from Pottapi in

Cuddapah Kadapa (colonial spelled Cuddapah) is a city in the southern part of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is located in the Rayalaseema region, and is the district headquarters of YSR Kadapa district. As of the 2022 Census of India, the city had a popula ...

in his works.

Works

His works are to the praise of the God

. His famous works include '' Sri Kalahasteeshwara Mahatyam'' (The grace/miracles of lord Shiva) and '' Sri Kalahasteeshwara Satakam'' (100+ poems in the praise of lord Shiva). He was known as ''Pedda Dhurjati'' (Elder in Telugu) as there were four other people from the same family line who went by the name of Dhurjati during the same period and after him. His grandson ''Venkataraya Dhurjati'' wrote ''Indumati Parinayam'' (marriage of Indumati), a story from

Kalidasa Kālidāsa (''fl.'' 4th–5th century CE) was a Classical Sanskrit author who is often considered ancient India's greatest poet and playwright. His plays and poetry are primarily based on the Vedas, the Rāmāyaṇa, the Mahābhārata and t ...

's '' Raghuvamsa''. He is also credited with many chatuvus, stand-alone extempore poems.

Style

Like other contemporaries during Prabandha period, he has taken themes from

Purana Purana (; sa, , '; literally meaning "ancient, old"Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature (1995 Edition), Article on Puranas, , page 915) is a vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly about legends an ...

s and added local stories and myths in his work. Unlike his contemporaries like Peddana and Mallana, who have chosen the stories of kings for their works, he choose devotion as the theme of his fiction.

has praised Dhurjati in the following way ''"Stutimati yaina Andhrakavi Dhurjati palkulakelagalgeno yetulita madhuri mahima...."'' (How is Dhurjati's poetry so immeasurably beautiful).Dhurajti

References

* K.A. Nilakanta Sastry, History of South India, From Prehistoric times to fall of Vijayanagar, 1955, OUP, New Delhi (Reprinted 2002)

* Sree Kaalahasti Maahaathyamu, Mahaakavi Dhoorjati, EMESCO BOOKS- Sampradaaya Saahiti - A low price edition, with Viswanatha Satyanarayana's introduction, 2006.

Notes

Telugu poets Telugu people People of the Vijayanagara Empire Hindu poets 16th-century Indian poets 15th-century Indian poets Indian male poets People from Chittoor district Poets from Andhra Pradesh Vijayanagara poets {{India-poet-stub