Vijayanagara literature in Kannada is the body of literature composed in the Kannada language of South India during the Vijayanagar Empire (14th–16th centuries). The Vijayanagara empire was established in 1336 by Harihara I and his brother Bukka Raya I. The empire is named after its capital city Vijayanagara, whose ruins surround modern Hampi, now a World Heritage Site in Karnataka (Virupaksha Temple pictured). Kannada literature during this period consisted of writings relating to the socio-religious developments of the Veerashaiva and Vaishnava faiths, and to a lesser extent to that of Jainism. Authors included poets, scholars, and members of the royal family, their ministers, army commanders of rank, and nobility. Writers popularised use of the native metres: shatpadi (six-line verse), sangatya (compositions meant to be sung to the accompaniment of a musical instrument), and tripadi (three- line verse). The development of Veerashaiva literature was at its peak during the reign of King Deva Raya II, the best-known of the Sangama Dynasty rulers. The rule of King Krishnadeva Raya of the Tuluva Dynasty and his successors was a high point in Vaishnava literature.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vijayanagara_literature_in_Kannada
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
284:
Diocletian (bust pictured) became Roman emperor, eventually establishing reforms that ended the Crisis of the Third Century. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diocletian
1739:
War of Jenkins' Ear: A British naval force captured the settlement of Portobello in the Spanish Main (modern Panama). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Porto_Bello
1902:
While discussing how to promote the newspaper L'Auto, sports journalist Géo Lefèvre came up with the idea of holding a cycling race that later became known as the Tour de France. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_de_France
1968:
An explosion at a coal mine in West Virginia, US, killed 78 people and served as the catalyst for several new laws that were passed to protect miners. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farmington_Mine_disaster
1994:
In accordance with the Lusaka Protocol, the Angolan government signed a ceasefire with UNITA rebels in a failed attempt to end the Angolan Civil War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lusaka_Protocol
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
spoiler: 1. One who spoils; a plunderer, pillager, despoiler. 2. A document, review or comment that discloses the ending or some key surprise or twist in a story. 3. (automotive) A device to reduce lift and increase downforce. 4. (US, chiefly politics, sports) An individual, unable to win themselves, who spoils the chances of another's victory. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/spoiler
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Many of the world's great movements, of thought and action, have flowed from the work of a single man. A young monk began the Protestant Reformation, a young general extended an empire from Macedonia to the borders of the earth, and a young woman reclaimed the territory of France. It was a young Italian explorer who discovered the New World, and 32-year-old Thomas Jefferson who proclaimed that all men are created equal. "Give me a place to stand," said Archimedes, "and I will move the world." These men moved the world, and so can we all. --Robert F. Kennedy https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_F._Kennedy