Mysore literature in Kannada is a body of literature composed in the Kannada language in the historical Kingdom of Mysore in Southern India. The Kingdom of Mysore began as a vassal state of the Vijayanagara empire, under the rule of Yaduraya Wodeyar. In approximately the 16th century, after the rule of the Tuluva dynasty of Vijayangara began to lose its hold, Timmaraja Wodeyar II broke away from Vijayanagara. In the 18th century, Hyder Ali became the Sultan of Mysore after wresting power from Nanjaraja Odeyar, the son and sarvādhikāri of Krishnaraja Wodeyar II. After the British defeated Tipu Sultan in 1799, the Kingdom of Mysore was re-established under the Wodeyars, though under the close watch of the East India Company's officials. The succession of different rulers with various religion-cultural and linguistic affinities contributed to the multifaceted character of Mysore literature. Well into the colonial period, Mysore literature was a predominantly courtly enterprise, composed by palace scholars with various interests and linguistic competencies. Languages of the court included not only Kannada and Sanskrit, but Urdu and Telugu at various points.
A large number of works in Mysore deal with narratives and themes from local Vīraśaiva or Vaiṣṇava traditions. While the Mysore Wodeyars were avowed Śrīvaiṣṇavas, they patronized Śaiva, Jaina, and other Vaiṣṇava poets as well.Narasimhacharya (1988), p. 17, Shastri (1955), p. 359 Works dealing with secular topics were also part of this corpus.Narasimhacharya (1988), pp. 23–26; Kamath (2001), p. 228, 280; Pranesh (2003), pp. 11, 60; Rice E.P. (1921), p. 89 Kannada literature patronized by the neighboring Nayakas of Keladi later contributed to the traditions of Mysore, after their kingdom was annexed by Mysore in 1763.Nagaraj (2003), pp. 370, 377
During an age of revival and innovation, some Mysore court poets brought back the classical champu (a composition in prose-verse), a form of writing that had prevailed in Kannada prior to the 13th century, and initiated writings on contemporary history.Shipley (2007), pp. 526, 528 Yakshagana, a native form of dramatic literature meant for a rustic audience, consolidated in the coastal and malnad (hill) regions in the 16th century and gained popularity thereafter, and spread to Mysore and Yelandur.Ashton (2003), p. 22; Brandon and Banham (1993), p. 115; Kamath (2001), p. 281 The literature of the itinerant Haridasas, popular in the 15th and 16th century, was revived in the 18th and 19th century, and had a strong influence on devotionalism in the Kannada speaking regions.Shiva Prakash (1997), pp. 200–201; Sahitya Akademi (1987), p. 884; Thielemann (2002), pp. 21–22 The vachana poetic tradition was repopularised by some poets while others wrote anthologies and doctrines based on the 12th century Veerashaiva canon.Shipley (2007), p. 528; Shiva Prakash (1997), pp. 188–192; Nagaraj (2003) p. 379 Social developments in the 19th century brought the influence of English literature and classical Sanskrit literature, resulting in the birth of modern prose, prose narrative and theatrical literature.Murthy (1992), pp. 167–170
The men of letters in the Mysore royal court included not only the court poets, who were often quite prolific, but also on occasion the rulers themselves.Mukherjee (1999), p. 78; Shipley (2007), p. 528; Kamath (2001), pp. 227, 229–230; Narasimhacharya (1988), pp. 23, 26; Rice E.P. (1921), p. 90; Pranesh (2003), p. 7 In the post Vijayanagara Empire period, a new kind of lyrical poetry, one unaffiliated with the royal court, and written by maverick-poets was gaining popularity.Nagaraj (2003), pp. 378–379 A wide range of metres, indigenous and Sanskritic, were popular including tripadi (3-line verse), shatpadi (6-line verse) and saptapadi (7-line verse) metres, and gadya (prose).Rice E.P. (1921), p. 90; Shiva Prakash (1997), pp. 192, 210; Pranesh (2003), pp. 21, 32, 42–43, 49–50, 87–88; Sahitya Akademi (1988), p. 1764
Pre-16th century literature
+ Trends in Kannada literature (mid-16th–20th century) Developments Date Birth of the Yakshagana play 1565–1620 CE Dominance of Vaishnava and Veerashaiva literature 17th–20th century CE Historicals and Biographies. Revival of classical Champu. Revival of Vachana poetry. Veerashaiva anthologies and commentaries. Age of Sarvajna and Lakshmisa. Vaishnava epics and poems 1600–1700 CE Writings by Mysore Royalty 1630 onward Revival of Haridasa literaturePopularity of Yakshagana play 1700 CE onward Birth of Modern literature 1820–1900 CE
By the mid-16th century, Kannada literature had been influenced by three important socio-religious developments: Jainism (9th–12th centuries), Veerashaivism (devotion to the god Shiva, from the 12th century), and Vaishnavism (devotion to the god Vishnu, from the 15th century).Narasimhacharya (1988), pp. 17, 65–66Shiva Prakash (1997), pp. 167–170, 192–195 In addition, writings on secular subjects remained popular throughout this period.Narasimhacharya (1988), pp. 61–64
Jain works were written in the classical champu metre and were centred on the lives of Tirthankars (saints), princes and personages associated with the Jainism.Narasimhacharya (1988), pp. 17, 61 The early Veerashaiva literature (1150–1200 CE), comprising pithy poems called Vachanas (lit. "utterance" or "saying")Sastri (1955), pp. 360–361; Rice E.P. (1921), p. 56Kamath (2001), p. 115; Nagaraj in Pollock (2003), p. 21 which propagated devotion to the god Shiva were written mostly as prose-poems, and to a lesser extent in the tripadi metre.Rice E.P. (1921), p. 59; Sahitya Akademi (1988), p. 1324Shiva Prakash (1997), pp. 163–164, 166–169, 191 From the 13th century, Veerashaiva writers made the saints of the 12th century the protagonists of their writings and established native metres such as the ragale (lyrical compositions in blank verse) and the shatpadi.Sastri (1955), p. 362; Shiva Prakash (1997), p. 188Sahitya Akademi (1987), pp. 551–552, pp. 403–404; Shiva Prakash (1997), pp. 179–205Sahitya Akademi (1987), p. 1181
The Vaishnava writers of the 15th and early 16th century Vijayanagara Empire consisted of the Brahmin commentators who wrote under royal patronage, and the itinerant Haridasas, saint-poets who spread the philosophy of Madhvacharya using simple Kannada in the form of melodious songs.Nagaraj (2003), p. 368Sharma (1961), pp. 514–555Shiva Prakash (1997), pp. 194–200 The Haridasa poets used genres such as the kirthane (compositions based on rhythm and melody), the suladi (rhythm-based) and the ugabhoga (melody-based).Shiva Prakash (1997), pp. 166–167, 193–194 Overall, Kannada writings had changed from marga (formal) to desi (vernacular) and become more accessible to the commoner.Shiva Prakash (1997), pp. 163–164, 166–167
Developments from 16th century
Court and monastic literature After the decline of the Vijayanagara Empire, the centres of Kannada literary production shifted to the courts of the emerging independent states, at Mysore and Keladi.Nagaraj (2003), p. 370, p. 377 The Kingdom of Keladi was centred at Keladi and nearby Ikkeri in the modern Shivamogga district. At their peak, their domains included the coastal, hill and some interior regions of modern Karnataka. Writers in the Keladi court authored important works on Veerashaiva doctrine. The Keladi territories and that of smaller chiefs (Palegars) were eventually absorbed into the Kingdom of Mysore by 1763.Kamath (2001), p. 220, pp. 225–226; Nagaraj (2003), p. 370; Rice E.P. (1921), p. 83 The unique aspect of the Mysore court was the presence of numerous multi-lingual writers, some of whom were Veerashaivas. They were often adept in Telugu and Sanskrit, in addition to Kannada. The Veerashaiva monasteries that had sprung up in various regions including Mysore, Tumkur, Chitradurga and Bangalore sought to spread their influence beyond the Kannada speaking borders.Nagaraj (2003), pp. 377–378 Sadakshara Deva, a Veerashaiva writer, tried to rejuvenate the classical champu style of writing. The Srivaishnava (a sect of Vaishnavism) writers, who were dominant in the Mysore court, maintained a literary style that was conventional and conservative while proliferating lore and legend. A spurt in Vaishnava writings resulted in new renderings of the epics, the Mahabharata, the Bhagavata and no fewer than three versions of the Ramayana.Rice E.P. (1921), p. 91–92 Prior to the 17th century, information about royal genealogy and achievements had been recorded mostly on versified inscriptions. Beginning with the 17th century, with the consolidation of the feudatory of Mysore into an independent kingdom, historical and biographical writings became popular. A number of such works were penned by the court poets in the 17th and early 18th century, most notably, Tirumalarya II and Chikkupdhyaya. Some of these writings would later serve as valuable research and source material for modern day historians.Rice E.P. (1921), p. 89
Folk and didactic literature
Yakshagana (lit. "Songs of the demi-gods") is a composite folk-dance-drama or folk theatre of southern India which combines literature, music, dance and painting into. The best-known forms of this art are from the Dakshina Kannada, Udupi district, Uttara Kannada and to some extent from the Shimoga district of modern Karnataka.Sahitya Akademi (1992), p. 4621Ashton (2003), p. 17–18, p. 27Brandon and Banham (1993), p. 115 There are a variety of dance-dramas collectively termed as Yakshagana. The Yakshagana Tenkutittu (lit. "Yakshagana of the southern style") is popular primarily in the Mangalore region and the Yakshagana Badagatittu Bayalaata (lit. "Yakshagana of northern style performed outdoors") is popular in Udupi and surrounding regions.Ashton (2003), p. 17 Other art forms also grouped under Yakshagana are the Nagamandalam, a dance meant to appease the deity Naga, and a variety of bhuta (spirit) dances. The "Yakshagana Tenkutittu" is more akin to the classical Kathakali of Kerala.
According to modern Kannada writer Shivarama Karanth, the region between Udupi and Ikkeri could be where the Yakshagana of the northern style originated.Karanth in Ashton (2003), pp. 21–22 However, he noted that the earliest forms of dance-drama, called the Gandharagrama, are mentioned in the writing Narada Siska dated to 600–200 BCE. This primitive form developed into "Ekkalagana", a term which appears in the 12th century Kannada writings Mallinathapurana (c. 1105, by Nagachandra) and the Chandraprabha Purana (c. 1189, by AggalaRice E. P. (1921), p. 43).Karanth in Ashton (2003), pp. 20–21 According to the scholar M.M. Bhat, Chattana, a native composition adaptable to singing and mentioned in Kavirajamarga (c. 850) could be considered the earliest known forerunner of the Kannada Yakshaganas.Bhat (Yakshagana-Stage in Karnataka, 1963) in Ashton (2003), p. 19 An epigraph of c. 1565 from Bellary describes a grant to a troupe of Tala-Maddale performers. The earliest available manuscript containing Yakshagana plays is Virata Parva (c. 1565) by Vishnu of Brahmavara in South Kanara, and Sugriva Vijaya (mid-16th century) by Kandukuru Rudrakavi. The earliest available edition of Yakshagana plays, Sabhaparva, is dated to c. 1621.Ashton (2003), pp. 21–22Brandon and Banham (1993), p.115