Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v2.c20.s3.20

v2.c20.s3.20

Women occupied a prominent place in literature in Vijayanagara times. We have had some occasions of mentioning the learned Gaṅgādēvī, wife of Kampaṇa, who wrote *Madhurāvijayam* or *Virakamparāya Charitam*. The Queen of Bukka I seems also to have been an accomplished lady. An inscription dated A. D. 1378 says the following about her: "The king Bukka's wife was Honnāyi, in accomplishments like the science of love, in wisdom like the Vēdas, and though the king possessed many wifes, she was the chief, and the fulfiller of his desires".² Instances are not wanting of learned women in later Vijayanagara history. Achyuta Rāya's gift of *suvarṇamēru* was commemorated in a Sanskrit verse composed by Vōḍuva Tirumalammā (A.D. 1533), and inscribed in the Viṭhṭhala temple at Hampe.³ It is suggested that this learned lady may be identified with Tirumalāmbā, the author of the *kāvya* called *Varadāmbikāpariṇayam* which describes the marriage of Achyuta Rāya with Varadāmbā.⁴ Another poetess was Mōhanāṅgī, who wrote a love poem called *Mārīchipariṇayam*. About this lady also it is conjectured that her name may have been the surname of Tirumalāmbā, the wife of Rāma Rāja and the daughter of the great Kṛishṇa Dēva Rāya.⁵