Kannada poetry

Kannada poetry is poetry written in the Kannada language spoken in Karnataka state of India. Karnataka is the land that gave birth to seven Jnanapeeth award winners. Jnanapeeth is the highest honour in bestowed for Indian literature. From the period of Pampa, who proclaimed his wish to be reborn as a little bee in the land of Kannada, Kannada poetry has come a long way to Kuvempu and Dattatreya Ramachandra Bendre.

Pre-history

Kannada poetry has been traced back to around 5th century A.D, though none of those early works have been found. The first weel known Kannada poet was Pampa who wrote in an archaic style of kannada called Halegannada (literally "Old Kannada"). His Vikramarjuna Vijaya is hailed as a classic even to this day. With this and his other important work Adipurana he set a trend of poetic excellence for the Kannada poets of the future.

Haiku before Haiku!

Kannada had poetry similar to haiku in the 12th century itself! This form of poetry, called vachanas, were three liners which were pithy comments on that period's social, religious and economic conditions. More importantly, they hold a mirror to the seed of a social revolution, which caused a radical re-examination of the ideas of caste, creed and religion. One of the important ideas coming out of this revolution was the view that Work is worship and a path to spirituality.

Bhakti

Kannada poets have the unique distinction of sowing the seeds of one of the richest forms of classical music: South Indian Carnatic music. The Dasas or saints, around 15th century, sang the glory of God through poems. These poems called Padas were ususally of 10 to 20 lines. They expressed the desire of the Bhakta or devotee to be one with God. This form of poetry was highly amenable to musical composition and exposition. This music eveolved into the highly sophisticated and codified Carnatic music.

The Haridasas spread the message of peace, love and bhakti in their Dasa Sahitya, which are also popularly known Devaranamas

Navodaya (New birth)

Navodaya literally means a new birth. This indeed was the reincarnation of Kannada poetry which was dormat for quite a few centuries in the face of British occupation of India. This period saw greats like Srikanthaiah, Kuvempu, Bendre, Shivaram Karanth writing poetry. This genre was highly influenced by Romantic English poetry. It was Srikanthaiah who started this movement of sorts with his translation of a few critically acclaimed English poems of the Romantic period. Many educated Kannadigas , especially those were in the teaching profession], realised that they need to express themselves in their mother tongue and started writing poetry in Kannada. Kuvempu is a case in point who was convinced by his professor (of British origin) that he should write in his mother tongue. Kuvempu went on to become a Rashtrakavi (national poet). His love of nature, realisation of the greatness of man's spirit and the vision to see the blend of nature and God made him more than Kannada's Wordsworth. Another interesting case is that of Shivaram Karanth who was a man of great intellect, rock-solid convictions and a profound social sense. He was theLeonardo da Vinci of Karnataka.

Navya (New)

Indian Independence in 1947 brought with it the promises of freedom and a new genre sprouted in Kannada poetry. The torchbearer of this tradition was Gopalakrishna Adiga. The Navya poets wrote for and like disillusioned intellectuals. The sophistication in the use of language and the importance of technique to poetry reached new heights in this genre.

Other genres

Kannada poetry in the last 50 years has been closely related to social aspects. The cruel caste system gave rise to the Bandaya and Dalita genres of poetry. The atrocities of women and the general ill-treatment meted out to them in Indian society gave rise to the Stri (Woman) genre of poetry.

Awards

The fact that holds testament to the greatness of Kannada poetry is that it has won seven Jnanapeeth awards, the highest for any Indian language. Even Hindi, India's national language has got lesser.

Reaching people

The popularity of poetry is guaged in terms of the response that the educated and interested elite give. But the real popularity of poetry is when common people sing it. Popular appeal is not very easy to achieve for any form of poetry; especially when audiences are not kept in mind. Kannada poetry has a few instances of such mass popularity. Kumaravyasa's epic retelling of the Mahabharata is recited in homes even today. Bhavageete (literally "emotion poetry") has popularized many a Kannada poems and has people humming them.