Tikkana (1205–1288), also known as Tikkana Somayaji, was a 13th century Telugu poet. Born into a Telugu-speaking

Niyogi Brahmin Niyogi Brahmin is a Telugu Brahmin Caste, subcaste native to the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, but are spread throughout South India and Maharashtra. The traditional occupations of the Niyogi Brahmins are Agriculture, settl ...

family . He was the second poet of the "Trinity of Poets ( Kavi Trayam)" that translated ''

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. Nannaya Bhattaraka, the first, translated two and a half chapters of ''Mahabharata''. Tikkana translated the final 15 chapters, but did not undertake translating the half-finished ''Aranya Parvamu''. The Telugu people remained without this last translation for more than a century, until it was translated by Errana. Tikkana is also called Tikkana Somayaji, as he completed the Somayaga. Tikkana's titles were ''Kavibrahma'' and ''Ubhaya Kavi Mitrudu''.

Religious conflict

Tikkana was born in 1205 in Patur village, Kovur, Nellore district during the Golden Age of the

Kakatiya dynasty The Kakatiya dynasty (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: Kākatīya) was a Andhras, Telugu dynasty that ruled most of eastern Deccan Plateau, Deccan region in present-day India between 12th and 14th centuries. Their ter ...

. During this time conflict occurred between the two sects of Sanātana Dharma,

Shaivism Shaivism (, , ) is one of the major Hindu denominations, Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the Para Brahman, supreme being. It is the Hinduism#Demographics, second-largest Hindu sect after Vaishnavism, constituting about 385 million H ...

and

Vaishnavism Vaishnavism () ), also called Vishnuism, is one of the major Hindu denominations, Hindu traditions, that considers Vishnu as the sole Para Brahman, supreme being leading all other Hindu deities, that is, ''Mahavishnu''. It is one of the majo ...

. Tikkana attempted to bring peace to the warring Shivaites and Vaishnavites.

Political situation

Tikkana was a minister of the Nellore Choda ruler Manuma-siddhi II. In 1248, Manuma-siddhi II faced multiple rebellions, and lost control of his capital. He faced Tikkana as an emissary to the court of his overlord, the Kakatiya king Ganapati-deva. Ganapati received Tikkana warmly, and sent an army that re-established Manuma-siddhi II on the throne of Nellore.

Writing style

His writing style was mostly Telugu, unlike Nannayya whose work was mostly

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 ...

ized. Tikkana used Telugu words even to express very difficult ideas. He used Telugu words and parables extensively. In the colophons of his work, Tikkana calls himself "a friend to both inds ofpoets" (''Ubhaya-kavi-mitra''). The meaning of this phrase is not clear: it may refer to Sanskrit and Telugu poets; or

Shaivite Shaivism (, , ) is one of the major Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the supreme being. It is the second-largest Hindu sect after Vaishnavism, constituting about 385 million Hindus, found widely across South Asia (predominantly in ...

and non-Shaivite poets; or

Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

and non-Brahmin poets; or folk poets and scholarly poets.

Legacy and depictions in popular culture

The 15th or 16th century poet Nutana-kavi Suranna claimed descent from Tikkana. There is a library named after him in Guntur. It is maintained by a committee headed by Machiraju Sitapati and Kurakula Guraviah, an ex-corporator. In 2013 they celebrated 100 years of the library's functioning. There was a television series made on the life of Tikkana.

References

Bibliography