Chapter XIII CULTURE - Government of Karnataka

Culture 493
kings ruled over large parts of the present day Karnataka and many Kannada
rulers ruled over large areas of Telugu speaking country. Numerous Telugu
inscriptions found in Karnataka and numerous Kannada inscriptions found
in Andhra Pradesh reflect this fact. Before the advent of the Vijaynagar rulers
both Telugu and Kannada had a common script. Now even though they have
different scripts they are very close to each other. Palkurike Somanatha who
is famous in Telugu literarture as the author of’ ‘Basava Puranamu’ is said
to have written in Kannada, some of Ragales and Vachanas and works like
‘Sheela Sampadane’ and ‘Sahasra gananama’. There are also works in Telugu
like ‘Simhagiri Vachanas’ and ‘Venkateshwara Vachanas’ modelled on the
Vachanas of Basaveshwara. The Vijayanagara period was the golden age for
both Kannada and Telugu. The Vijayanagara court was the meeting place for
both these languages and cultures. It provided oppurtunity for large scale
exchange of ideas between the two people.
In the 19th and the 20th Centuries works like ‘Chawdeshwari
Puranam’ (Gummarajura Mahakavi), ‘Sukarmaneeti Chintamani’ (Komarla
Ramachandraiah), ‘Padmavathi Srinivasa’ (Kahula Bhairava Kavi), etc., were
written. What Sarvajna is to Kannada, Vemana is to Telugu. Bhimaraju, a
Telugu poet of Karnataka translated Sarvajna’s Vachanas to Telugu and
Vemana’s poems into Kannada.
In recent times considerable literary activity is seen in the realm of
translations. Award winning works of literature of the two languages are
translated to either language. In the field of translation T.V.Subba Rao, Badala
Ramaiah, K.S. Janakiramaiah, R.V.S. Sundaram, Nirupama and Hariharapriya
are worthy of mention and they have done commendable work.
The universities of Bangalore and Mysore which have well established
Telugu departments and they have helped the development of this language in
Karnataka. Many research thesies on Telugu literature and culture have been
submit in these two Universities. Another notable trend is the translation into
Kannada of political and social satires and novels from Telugu. Telugu cinema
and Kannada cinema have a very close relationship. Telugu Samiti and Andhra
Vijnana Sangham in Bangalore are trying to provide a common platform for
literary and cultural activities. A common script for both Telugu and Kannada
languages is often advocated.
Tamil in Karnataka
Kannada and Tamil originated from the same proto-Dravidian language
and Kannada is as old as Tamil in antiquity. Both Kannada and Tamil have
influenced each other immensely. The Pallava and Chola dynasties ruled over
large parts of the present Karnataka. The Gangas, Chalukyas, Hoysalas and
the Vijayanagara emperors ruled over large parts of Tamilnadu. The word
Karnataka itself appears to have been a contribution of the Tamils as it is used
as ‘Karunat’ in Tamil works like ‘Shilappadikaram’. The two languages are so
close to each other that some of the expressions of early Kannada are also
found in Tamil.