A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c19.s4.2

c19.s4.2

In the beginning Telugu had much in common with Kannada and this affinity persisted to a relatively late stage in the development of the two languages. Pampa and Ponna, two of the greatest Kannada poets, came from the Telugu country, and the great Telugu poet Śrinātha styles himself a poet in Karnāta-bhāshā. Early Telugu prose and verse can now be traced only in inscriptions like those of the Telugu-Chodas and the Eastern Chālukyas; a well-developed verse in sīsa metre adorns the grant of General Pānduranga (845-6). Beyond doubt there must have existed much unwritten literature of a popular character which enlivened the daily life of the common folk; such dēśi compositions may have included lālipāṭalu (songs of the cradle), mēlukolupulu (songs of the dawn), mangala hāratulu (songs of festivity), kīrtanalu (devotional songs) and ūḍupu pāṭalu (songs of the harvest).