Palkuriki Somanatha was one of the most noted

Telugu language Telugu (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken by Telugu people predominantly living in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where it is also the official language. It is the most widely spoken ...

writers of the 12th or 13th century. He was also an accomplished writer in the

Kannada 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 s ...

and

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

languages and penned several classics in those languages. He was a

Lingayat Lingayatism or Veera Saivism is a Hindu denomination based on Shaivism. Initially known as ''Veerashaivas'', since the 12th-century adherents of this faith are known as ''Lingayats''. The terms ''Lingayatism'' and '' Veerashaivism'' have bee ...

a follower of the 12th century social reformer

Basava Basaveshwara, colloquially known as Basavanna, was a 12th-century CE Indian statesman, philosopher, poet, Lingayat social reformer in the Shiva-focussed bhakti movement, and a Hindu Shaivite social reformer during the reign of the Kalyani Cha ...

and his writings were primarily intended to propagate this faith.Sahitya Akademi (1992), p. 4133 He was a well acclaimed Shaiva poet.

Life

Indication that he was not a Shaiva by birth comes from the fact that he mentions the names of his parents in his very first work, '' Basava Purana'', as Visnuramideva and Sriyadevi,Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: Sasay to Zorgot Edited by Mohan Lal, Sahitya Akademi, 1992 p. 4133 violating a general practice of Shaiva writers who do not mention their real parents but rather consider the god Shiva as the father and his consort

Parvati Parvati ( sa, पार्वती, ), Uma ( sa, उमा, ) or Gauri ( sa, गौरी, ) is the Hindu goddess of power, energy, nourishment, harmony, love, beauty, devotion, and motherhood. She is a physical representation of Mahadevi i ...

as the mother. However, the scholar Bandaru Tammayya has argued that he was born a ''Jangama'' (devotee of the god Shiva).Bandaru Tammayya in Sahitya Akademi (1992), p. 4133 The scholar Seshayya places him in the late 13th to early 14th century and proposes that the writer lived during the reign of

Kakatiya The Kakatiya dynasty (IAST: Kākatīya) was an Indian dynasty that ruled most of eastern Deccan region comprising present day Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and parts of eastern Karnataka and southern Odisha between 12th and 14th centuries. Th ...

king Prataparudra II, whereas the Kannada scholar R. Narasimhacharya dates his writings to the 12th century and claims Somanatha was patronised by Kakatiya king Prataparudra I (1140–1196).Seshayya in Sahitya Akademi (1992), p. 4133Narasimhacharya (1988), p. 20, p. 68 His place of birth is uncertain because there is a village by the name Palkuriki in the Warangal district of the

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the eleventh-largest state and the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of and 35 ...

state as well as in the Kannada speaking region (

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO 15919, ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reor ...

).Shastri (1955), p. 362

Writings

;Telugu language Important among his Telugu language writings are the '' Basava Purana'', ''Panditaradhya charitra'', ''Malamadevipuranamu'' and ''Somanatha Stava''–in ''dwipada'' metre ("couplets"); ''Anubhavasara'', ''Chennamallu Sisamalu'', ''Vrushadhipa Saataka'' and ''Cheturvedasara''–in verses; ''Basavodharana'' in verses and ''ragale'' metre (rhymed couplets in blank verse); and the ''Basavaragada''.Shatiya Akademi (1992), p. 4133 ;Kannada language His contributions to

Kannada literature Kannada literature is the corpus of written forms of the Kannada language, a member of the Dravidian family spoken mainly in the Indian state of Karnataka and written in the Kannada script. Attestations in literature span one and a half ...

are, the ''Basavaragada'', ''Basavadhyaragada'', ''Sadgururagada'', ''Silasampadane'', ''Sahasragananama'', ''Pancharantna''. Several '' Vachana'' and ''ragale'' poems are also his contributions to Kannada literature. Somanatha's Telugu ''Basavapurana'' was the inspiration for

Vijayanagara Vijayanagara () was the capital city of the historic Vijayanagara Empire. Located on the banks of the Tungabhadra River, it spread over a large area and included the modern era Group of Monuments at Hampi site in Vijayanagara district, Bell ...

poet Bhimakavi (c. 1369) who wrote a Kannada book by the same name. Somanatha was the protagonist of a 16th-century Kannada ''

purana Purana (; sa, , '; literally meaning "ancient, old"Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature (1995 Edition), Article on Puranas, , page 915) is a vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly about legends an ...

'' ("epic religious text") written by the Vijayanagara poet Tontadarya.Shastri (1955), p. 362; Shatiya Akademi (1992), p. 4133 ;Sanskrit language Important among his Sanskrit language writings are the ''Somanathabhashya'', ''Rudrabhashya'', ''Vrushabhastaka'', ''Basavodharana'', ''Basavashtaka'', ''Basava panchaka'', ''Ashtottara satanama gadya'', ''Panchaprakara gadya'' and ''Asharanka gadya''.

Works in translation

* ''Siva's Warriors: The Basava Purana of Palkuriki Somanatha'', Tr. by Velcheru Narayana Rao. Princeton Univ Press, 1990. .

Notes

References

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Life

Writings

Works in translation

Notes

References

See also