Nannaya ''Bhattaraka'' (sometimes spelled Nannayya or Nannaiah; ca. 11th century) was a Telugu poet and the author of the first '' Andhra Mahabharatam'', a Telugu retelling of the

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

-language ''

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the s ...

''. This work, which is rendered in the

Champu Champu or Chapu-Kavya ( Devanagari: चम्पू-काव्य) is a genre of literary composition in Indian literature. The word 'Champu' means a combination of poetry and prose. A ''champu-kavya'' consists of a mixture of prose (Gadya ...

style, is chaste and polished and of a high literary merit. Nannaya is the first of the three earliest known Telugu poets, called the ''

Kavitrayam Kavitrayam ( Telugu: కవిత్రయం) is a Telugu expression for trinity of poets. Kavitrayam popularly refers to the poets who translated the great epic Mahabharata into Telugu. The group/trinity consists of Nannayya, Tikkana and Yerra ...

'' ("trinity of poets"). The advanced and well-developed language used by Nannaya suggests that prior

Telugu literature Telugu literature is the body of works written in the Telugu language. It consists of poems, short stories, novels, plays, and song lyrics, among others. There is some indication that Telugu literature dates at least to the middle of the first ...

other than royal grants and decrees must have existed before him. However, these presumed works are now lost, and Nannaya is considered the first poet (''adi kavi'') of Telugu language. Legends also credit him with writing the Sanskrit-language ''Andhra-shabda-chintamani'', said to be the first work on

Telugu grammar The first treatise on Telugu grammar ( te, వ్యాకరణం ''vyākaraṇam''), the ''Andhra Sabda Chintamani'' (Telugu: ఆంధ్ర శబ్ద చింతామణి ''Āndhra śabda cintāmaṇi'') was written in Sanskrit by Nan ...

, but these legends are historically inaccurate, and the text is an imagnary work.

Grammar

Some legends credit Nannaya with writing ''Andhra-shabda-chintamani'' ("Magic Jewel of Telugu Words"), a

-language work that was the first treatise on

. This lost work is said to have contained five chapters with 82 verses in the

Arya metre ''Āryā meter'' is a meter used in Sanskrit, Prakrit and Marathi verses. A verse in metre is in four metrical lines called ''pāda''s. Unlike the majority of meters employed in classical Sanskrit, the meter is based on the number of s ( morae) ...

. Nannaya is said to have written this text with help of his friend Narayana Bhatt; Scholar and poet K. Ayyappa Paniker states that both these scholars are believed to be of

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 ...

origin. Nannaya's grammar is said to have been divided into five chapters, covering samjnā,

sandhi Sandhi ( sa, सन्धि ' , "joining") is a cover term for a wide variety of sound changes that occur at morpheme or word boundaries. Examples include fusion of sounds across word boundaries and the alteration of one sound depending on near ...

, ajanta,

halanta Virama ( ्) is a Sanskrit phonological concept to suppress the inherent vowel that otherwise occurs with every consonant letter, commonly used as a generic term for a codepoint in Unicode, representing either # halanta, hasanta or explicit virā ...

and kriya. Yelakuchi Bala-sarasvati wrote a Telugu gloss (commentary) on this work, and his ''Bala-sarasvatiyamu'' refers to this legend in brief. A more elaborate version of the legend appears in Appa-kavi's ''Appakavīyamu'' (1656). According to this version, Bhimana, who was jealous of Nannaya, stole and destroyed ''Andhra-shabda-chintamani'' by throwing it in the Godavari River. Unknown to others, King Rajaraja-narendra's son Saranga-dhara, an immortal ''

siddha ''Siddha'' (Sanskrit: '; "perfected one") is a term that is used widely in Indian religions and culture. It means "one who is accomplished." It refers to perfected masters who have achieved a high degree of physical as well as spiritual ...

'', had memorized Nannaya's grammar. He gave a written copy of Nannaya's work to Bala-sarasvati near Matanga Hill (at

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 ...

), and Bala-sarasvati wrote a Telugu gloss (commentary) on the work. With help of the god

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 ...

, Appa-kavi received a copy of Nannaya's work, and wrote ''Appakavīyamu'' as a commentary on this text. ''Ahobala-panditiya'' (also known as ''Kavi-shiro-bhushana''), a Sanskrit commentary on ''Andhra-shabda-chintamani'', also retells this story. While some of the grammatical ''sutras'' in Appa-kavi's work may be from Nannaya's time, ''Andhra-shabda-chintamani'' is an imaginary work, and was probably fabricated by Bala-sarasvati himself. Although Appa-kavi describes his work as a commentary, it is really an original work.

References

;Sources * ''History and Culture of Andhra Pradesh,'' P. R. Rao * Andhrula Saanghika Charitra, Pratapareddy Suravaram * Andhra Vagmaya Charitramu, Dr. Venkatavadhani Divakarla * Andhra Pradesh Darshini, Parts 1 and 2, Chief Editor Y. V. Krishnarao {{Authority control Telugu poets Telugu writers 11th-century Indian writers Indian male writers People from Rajahmundry Writers from Andhra Pradesh Sanskrit–Telugu translators

Grammar

See also

References