Kasikhandamu (

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

: కాశీఖండము) is a Telugu literary work by 15th century poet Srinatha. It is composed in a poetic form of

Prabandha Prabandha is a literary genre of medieval Indian Sanskrit literature. The ''prabandha''s contain semi-historical anecdotes about the lives of famous persons. They were written primarily by Jain scholars of western India (Gujarat and Malwa) from 1 ...

style with strict metre. The main subject is the profile of Kasi or

Varanasi Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic t ...

, extracted mostly from Kasi Khanda of

Skanda Purana The ''Skanda Purana'' (IAST: Skanda Purāṇa) is the largest '' Mukyapurana'', a genre of eighteen Hindu religious texts. The text contains over 81,000 verses, and is of Kaumara literature, titled after Skanda, a son of Shiva and Parvati, w ...

. According to the researcher Nidudavolu Venkata Rao, the author most probably wrote this work in 1440 A.D. and dedicated his work to Sri Veerabhadra Reddy (1423 - 1448) of

Reddi kingdom The Reddi kingdom or Kondavidu Reddi kingdom (1325–1448 CE) was established in southern India by Prolaya Vema Reddi. Most of the region that was ruled by the Reddi dynasty is now part of modern-day coastal and central Andhra Pradesh. Orig ...

, under whom he was the court-poet. Srinatha was the first poet to take up this translation into Telugu language. Subsequent to him, two other poets Kancherla Sarabhakavi and Mocherla Annaya translated Kasi Khanda in 1500 and 1650 respectively.

Publications

The book was published in 1888 in Madras by Gnana Suryodaya Printing press of Chennakeshavulu Shetti. Subsequently Vavilla Ramaswamy Sastrulu and Sons, Madras published it in 1917 with foreword by Nidudavolu Venkata Rao.

References

{{reflist Telugu poetry Books about Varanasi 1888 books 15th-century Indian literature