Who is honoured as the Adikavi, the first poet, of Kannada literature?
- A.Pampa
- B.Nannaya
- C.Basavanna
- D.Kuvempu
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is A, Pampa. Pampa wrote in the tenth century and is called the Adikavi of Kannada on the strength of two works, Vikramarjuna Vijaya, also known as Pampa Bharata, which retells the Mahabharata with his patron in the place of Arjuna, and Adipurana, on the life of the first Jain Tirthankara. With Ponna and Ranna he is counted among the three gems of early Kannada poetry. Option B, Nannaya, holds exactly the same title in Telugu, where he began the Telugu Mahabharata and wrote a grammar of the language, so the two Adikavis are the pair examiners most often exchange. Option C, Basavanna, belongs to the twelfth century and led the vachana movement, writing short devotional pieces in everyday Kannada, which makes him a founder of a form rather than the first poet. Option D, Kuvempu, is a twentieth century writer and the first Kannada recipient of the Jnanpith Award.
Read the full article: Kannada, Malayalam and Telugu Literature: Classics and Awards
Practice Questions
View allThe first Jnanpith Award, for the year 1965, was given to a writer of which language?
- A.Kannada
- B.Malayalam
- C.Telugu
- D.Hindi
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The first Jnanpith Award was conferred for the year 1965 on the Malayalam poet G. Sankara Kurup for his collection Odakkuzhal, which means the reed flute; the prize itself had been instituted in 1961 by the Bharatiya Jnanpith.
Read the full explanation →Kuvempu received the Jnanpith Award in 1967 for which work?
- A.Mookajjiya Kanasugalu
- B.Sri Ramayana Darshanam
- C.Samskara
- D.Naku Tanti
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Kuvempu, whose full name was K. V. Puttappa, was awarded the Jnanpith in 1967 for this long poem, a retelling of the Ramayana in modern Kannada, and he was the first Kannada writer to receive the prize; he also wrote the state song of Karnataka.
Read the full explanation →Nannaya, Tikkana and Errana, known together as the Kavitrayam, belong to which language?
- A.Kannada
- B.Malayalam
- C.Telugu
- D.Tamil
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Nannaya, Tikkana and Errana are called the Kavitrayam, the trinity of poets, because between them they rendered the Mahabharata into Telugu over the course of several centuries; Nannaya, the Adikavi of Telugu, began the work and also wrote the grammar Andhra Shabda Chintamani, while Errana continued and Tikkana completed it.
Read the full explanation →Who wrote Ramayana Kalpavrukshamu, which won the Jnanpith Award in 1970?
- A.C. Narayana Reddy
- B.Viswanatha Satyanarayana
- C.Gurajada Appa Rao
- D.Ravuri Bharadwaja
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He was awarded the Jnanpith in 1970 for Ramayana Kalpavrukshamu, a retelling of the Ramayana in Telugu verse, and he was the first Telugu writer to receive the prize.
Read the full explanation →Vachana literature in Kannada is chiefly associated with
- A.Pampa
- B.Basavanna
- C.Purandara Dasa
- D.Masti Venkatesha Iyengar
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The vachanas are short, direct compositions in the rhythmic Kannada of ordinary speech, carrying devotion to Shiva together with a sharp attack on caste and empty ritual, and they belong to the Veerashaiva or Lingayat movement of the twelfth century, of which Basavanna was the central figure; the woman saint…
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