Kannada prosody () is the study of

metres The metre (or meter in US spelling; symbol: m) is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Since 2019, the metre has been defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of of ...

used in

Kannada poetry Kannada language, Kannada (ಕನ್ನಡ) is the language spoken in Karnataka (ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ, ಕರುನಾಡು). Karnataka has eight Jnanapeeth (ಜ್ಞಾನ ಪೀಠ ಪುರಸ್ಕೃತ) award winners, the highest honor ...

, describing the rhythmic structure of a verse. The metres used include some metres borrowed from other traditions, and indigenous metres.

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

literature, especially Old Kannada poetry, clearly exhibits the importance poets placed on metre. This can be seen in the number of types of metre used in Kannada poetry.

History

The earliest Kannada work on prosody was the ''Guṇagānkiyam'', which has been lost. Nagavarma I wrote a fairly complete work on prosody , called Chandombudhi. With a few additions by later writers, it still remains a standard work on Kannada prosody.

Subdivisions

Kannada metres are categorised as Amsha and Maatra (syllabic and quantitative), or as Vaidika and Laukika metres.Prof. T. V. Venkatachala Shastri, Kannada Chandaswaroopa, DVK Murthy Publication, Mysore 3rd Edition 2008 p.267-315

Amsha metres

Amsha metres are based on Amsha or a unit consisting of short or long syllables which may be extended to modify time required to pronounce them. Amshas are named as Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra based on number of Amshas in it: 2, 3 or 4, respectively. Tripadi, Sangatya and some Amsha Shatpadi belong to Amsha metre category. Kannada vachanas and

Yakshagana Yakshagana is a traditional theatre, found in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Kasaragod district and Uttara Kannada, Shimoga and western parts of Chikmagalur district, Chikmagalur districts, in the state of Karnataka and in Kasaragod district in Keral ...

poems are composed in these metres. There are also Amsha Shatpadis.

Maatra metres

Maatra metres are based on Maatras. A Maatra is a unit of time. One Maatra is denoted as U and is called Laghu. Two Maatra is denoted as -. There are a set of rules to decide if a letter in a poem takes one or two Maatra time. Maatra Shatpadi and Ragale, for example belong to this group. Harichandra Kavya, Jaimini Bharata are poems composed in these metres.

Vaidika metres

Vaidika metres are based on Sanskrit Vedic metres such as Vaidika Anustup, Gayatri and Tristup etc. These are Akshara metres or syllabic metres based on number of syllables and lines.

Laukika metres

Laukika metres are Vaidika metres used in a more constrained manner to instill more rhythmic regularity. Anustup is an example. The Sanskrit Ramayana by Valmiki is composed in Laukika Anustup metre. There are very few poems composed in Kannada in these metres and this category is mostly of academic interest in Kannada.

Popular indigenous metres

Ragale Ragale (Kannada: :kn:ರಗಳೆ, ರಗಳೆ ) is a type of meter in Kannada meter (poetry), Kannada prosody that is used in Kannada poetry. This meter can usually have as many pada (foot), padas of syllables divided into two groups of vari ...

:* Shatpadi :* Dvipadi :* Tripadi :* Chaupadi :* Sāangatya - Siribhoovalaya, considered one of the finest mysteries of ancient Kannada literature, follows this style.

Popular adopted metres

:* Stragdara Mala :* Shardula Vikridita :* Mattebha Vikridita

Modern Kannada metres

:* Sarala Ragale Modern Kannada poets use flexible metrical structure, sometimes completely neglecting rhythm patterns and focusing completely on the emotional value of lyric. These lyrics are being studied and new patterns inherent in them are being formalized.

References

Books

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kannada Prosody Kannada language Prosodies by language Indian poetics