Kavitrayam (
Telugu: కవిత్రయం) is a
Telugu expression for trinity of poets. Kavitrayam popularly refers to the poets who translated the great epic
Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...
into Telugu. The kavitrayam comprises
Nannayya,
Tikkana and
Yerrapragada.
Nannayya
Nannayya was popularly hailed as the ''Adi Kavi'' or the first poet, and he belonged to
Rajamahendravaram
Rajahmundry ( ), officially Rajamahendravaram, is a city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and district headquarters of East Godavari district. It is the fifth most populated city in the state. During British rule, the district of Rajahmu ...
, an ancient city in
East Godavari District of
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...
. He was said to have lived during the years 1000 - 1100. Nannayya initiated the gigantic task of translation of the great epic Mahabharata into the Telugu language. But before he could translate everything, he had to revise Telugu by building new grammar rules and increase its vocabulary. Nannayya used many of the
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
words directly in Telugu too. Thus Nannayya made Telugu more Sanskrit related. Thus a lot of Nannayya's years were gone in the process of building a scaffold for the great task to translate the Mahabharata. However, he was still able to translate the first 2½ ''parva''s (chapters) into Telugu.
Thikkana
Thikkana belonged to Paturu, or Kovur taluk of present day
Nellore district
Nellore district, officially known as Sri Potti Sriramulu Nellore district in Coastal Andhra Region, is one of the 26 districts in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. According to the 2011 Census, the district's population was 2,963,557 of which ...
, a territory in 13th century's
Kakatiya kingdom. Thikkana took over the task from Nannayya. He translated from the 4th to 18th chapters of the Mahabharata, almost completing the last. He could start the task of translation right from day one, because Telugu was considerably an improved language by the time. However, he never attempted the 3rd chapter due to his life span, thus still leaving the task incomplete.
Yerrapragada
Errana was a great Telugu poet in the court of Prolaya Vemareddy (1325–1353), the founder of Reddy dynasty (1325–1424) of Kondaveedu, who ruled Guntur, Prakasam, Nellore, and Kurnool districts with capital of
Addanki. Errana was also known as Yellapregada or Errapregada. He was honored with the title Prabandha Parameswara (the supreme lord of Prabandha) and Sambudasudu. One of his greatest accomplishments were that he complete the full translation of the third chapter ending the task of getting the Mahabharatam to Telugu.
See also
*
Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...
*
Pothana
References
{{Reflist
Telugu people
Telugu-language literature