This is a list of available epics in the
Kannada language
Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native sp ...
(also called ''
purana'', in prose or poem), a South Indian language. Based on his research, the Kannada scholar L.S. Sheshagiri Rao claims that starting with the earliest available epic ''Adipurana'' by Pampa (939 C.E), Kannada writers have created a rich and active epic tradition. S.S. Bhusanurematha's ''Bhavyamanava'' (1983) is the latest in that tradition.
[Rao in Datta (1988), pp1180-1183, chapter-Epic(Kannada)] Based on medieval Kannada literary sources, the Indologist
Anthony Warder claims there were Kannada versions of the ''Ramayana'' and ''Mahabharata'' prior to 941 C.E., and ''Kavya'' (or ''Mahakavya'', epic poems) such as ''Karnataka Kumarasambhava'' by
Asaga
Asaga was a 9th-century Digambara Jain poet who wrote in Sanskrit and Kannada language. He is most known for his extant work in Sanskrit, the ''Vardhamana Charitra'' (Life of Vardhamana). This epic poem which runs into eighteen cantos was wri ...
(c. 850).
[Warder (1988), p240, pp247-248] According to the Kannada scholar R. Narasimhacharya, ''Chandraprabhapurana'' by Sri Vijaya, (court poet of King
Amoghavarsha I) dates to the early 9th century.
This list is by no means exhaustive. In addition to the epics listed here, there are numerous epics written 'in part' (called ''khanda'' or ''mahatmaya'') starting with the part rendering of the ''Skanda-purana'' by Kumarapadmarasa in c. 1180.
[Parameshwaranand (2001), vol 4 (M-R), pp1059-1074, p1061] According to Rao,
The list
See also
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Lists of Manipuri epics
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kannada Literature
Indian literature-related lists
Literature of Karnataka
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