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[[File:Model of court in Sri Krishnadevaraya asthanam.jpg|thumb|Asthadiggajas in the court of Sri Krishnadevaraya.]]
'''Ashtadiggajas''' is the collective title given to the eight Telugu scholars and poets in the [[Noble court|court]] of [[Krishna Deva Raya|Emperor Krishnadevaraya]] who ruled the [[Vijayanagara Empire]] from 1509 until his death in 1529. During his reign, [[Telugu people|Telugu]] literature and culture reached its zenith. In his court, eight poets were regarded as the eight pillars of his literary assembly. The age of Ashtadiggajas is called ''[[Telugu poetry#Prabandha era|Prabandha Age]]'' (1540 AD to 1600).<ref>{{cite web
|title=Prabandhamulu
|publisher=Microsoft
|url=http://www.bhashaindia.com/Patrons/LanguageTech/Prabandham.aspx
|url-status=dead
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080211131253/http://www.bhashaindia.com/Patrons/LanguageTech/Prabandham.aspx
|archivedate=11 February 2008
}}</ref> All of the Ashtadiggajas had composed at least one ''Prabandha Kavyamu'' and it was Ashtadiggajas who gave Prabandha its present form.<ref name="Adluri 1998">{{cite web
| last = Adluri
| first = Seshu Madhava Rao
| title = aShTadiggajamulu (Introduction)
| publisher = mun.ca
| year = 1998
| url = http://www.engr.mun.ca/~adluri/telugu/classical/prabandha/ashtadiggajalu.html }}</ref> Most of the Ashtadiggajas are from southern part of present-day [[Andhra Pradesh]] state ([[Rayalaseema]])<ref name="Adluri 1998" /> and Ashtadiggajas, [[Allasani Peddana]], [[Dhurjati]], [[Nandi Thimmana]], [[Madayyagari Mallana]] and [[Ayyalaraju Ramabhadrudu]] are from the [[Rayalaseema]]. [[Tenali Ramakrishna]] hailed from the [[Guntur district]] of [[Andhra Pradesh]]. [[Ramarajabhushanudu]] was another Ashtadiggaja.

==Etymology==
The title ''Ashtadiggajas'' (Ashta + dik + gaja) means ''elephants in eight directions''. It refers to the old [[Hindu]] belief that eight elephants hold the earth in eight directions which are namely Airaavata, Pundareeka, Vamana, Kumuda, Anjana, Pushpadanta, Sarwabhouma, Suprateeka, whose wives are Abhra, Kapila, Pingala, Anupama, Taamraparni, Subhradanti, Angana, Anjanaavati. The court of poets were also called ''Bhuvana Vijayam'' (Conquest of the World).<ref>[http://surrealist.org/gurukula/storymatters/nrsimha.html Legend in Vaishnavites about Eight elephants. One such mentioning of elephants is that Hiranayakasipu sent eight elephants carrying earth to kill Prahlada.]</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=India through the ages|url=https://archive.org/details/indiathroughages00mada|last=Gopal|first=Madan|year= 1990| page= [https://archive.org/details/indiathroughages00mada/page/71 71]|editor=K.S. Gautam|publisher=Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India}}</ref>

==Members==
These poets were:
*[[Allasani Peddana]]
*[[Nandi Thimmana]]
*[[Madayyagari Mallana]]
*[[Dhurjati]]
*[[Ayyalaraju Ramambhadrudu]]
*[[Pingali Surana]]
*[[Ramarajabhushanudu]]
*[[Tenali Ramakrishna]]

The most famous being Lakshmi Kumara Thathachariar honoured with the title ''Andhrakavitapitamaha'' (Progenitor of Telugu poetry) and [[Tenali Ramakrishna]], Krishnadevaraya's court jester who authored several acclaimed works.<ref>Like the Nine gems of King Vikramaditya's court, the Ashtadiggajas of Krishnadevara's court are famous in legend, K.A. Nilakanta Sastry, [[History of South India]], From Prehistoric times to fall of Vijayanagar, 1955, OUP, (Reprinted 2002), p372</ref>

==More Details==
Though the above listed eight poets are widely regarded as the Ashtadiggajas, there are some differences of opinion as to who exactly constituted the Ashtadiggajas and if the composition of this body changed over time. Some literary works mention the name of ''Bhattu-Murti'' in place of [[Ramarajabhushanudu]] and some accounts mention [[Pingali Surana]] and [[Tenali Ramakrishna]] also as members of the later emperors. From the stone inscriptions of that time, it has been inferred that the village of Thippalur in the present-day [[Cuddapah]] district was given to the Ashtadiggajas by the emperor.

Tenali Ramakrishna (also known as Pandit Ramakrishna and Tenali Rama) was a poet, scholar, thinker and a Special Advisor in the court of [[Krishnadevaraya]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gj2eOqgrq-oC&q=tenali+vikatakavi |title=Vikatakavi Tenali Rama |author=Neela Subramaniam |date= c. 2000|accessdate=19 July 2017|isbn=9788174780713 }} {{verify source |date=September 2019 |reason=This ref was deleted Special:Diff/906546600 by a bug in VisualEditor and later restored by a bot from the original cite located at Special:Permalink/906545124 cite #1 - verify the cite is accurate and delete this template. [[User:GreenC_bot/Job_18]]}}</ref> He was a [[Telugu people|Telugu]] poet who hailed from what is now the [[Andhra Pradesh]] region, generally known for his wit and humour.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DH0vmD8ghdMC&q=tenali+ramakrishna&pg=PA412 |title=Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide |page=412 |author=Roshen Dalal |accessdate=19 July 2017|isbn=978-0-14-341421-6 |year=2010 }} {{verify source |date=September 2019 |reason=This ref was deleted Special:Diff/906546600 by a bug in VisualEditor and later restored by a bot from the original cite located at Special:Permalink/906545124 cite #2 - verify the cite is accurate and delete this template. [[User:GreenC_bot/Job_18]]}}</ref> He was one of the Ashtadiggajas or the eight poets at the court of [[Krishnadevaraya]], the [[Vijayanagara Empire|Vijayanagara emperor]]. When he was a child his father was led to death. So, to overcome the depression that Rama faced, his mother Lakshamma took him to Vijayanagara where he was an advisor and was also a great scholar of several languages that included Kannada, Hindi, Malayalam, Telugu, Marathi and Tamil.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DH0vmD8ghdMC&q=tenali+ramakrishna&pg=PA412 |title=Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide |page=412 |author=Roshen Dalal |accessdate=19 July 2017|isbn=978-0-14-341421-6 |year=2010 }} {{verify source |date=September 2019 |reason=This ref was deleted Special:Diff/906546600 by a bug in VisualEditor and later restored by a bot from the original cite located at Special:Permalink/906545124 cite #2 - verify the cite is accurate and delete this template. [[User:GreenC_bot/Job_18]]}}</ref> He was an advisor in court of [[Krishnadevaraya]].

==Works==
[[Allasani Peddana]] wrote ''Swaarochisha Manu Sambhavam,'' dedicated to the Emperor [[Krishna Deva Raya]]. [[Nandi Thimmana]] wrote ''Parijataapaharanam'' and dedicated it to the emperor as well. [[Madayyagari Mallana]] wrote ''Rajasekhara Charitramu''. [[Dhurjati]] wrote ''Kalahasti Mahatyamu''. [[Ayyalaraju Ramabhadrudu]] wrote ''Ramaabhyudayamu''. Pingali Surana wrote ''Raghavapandaveeyamu'', a dual work that describes both [[Ramayana]] and [[Mahabharata]]. Ramarajabhushanudu wrote ''Kavyalankarasangrahamu'', ''Vasucharitramu'' and ''Harischandranalopakhyanamu''. [[Tenali Ramakrishna]] wrote ''Udbhataradhya Charitramu'', ''Panduranga Mahatmyamu,'' and Ghatikachala Mahatmyamu.

==Literary style==
Telugu literature reached its peak during their period. A new style called ''[[Telugu poetry#Prabandha era|prabandha]]'' with added fiction and few omissions from the original stories followed during this period. Poets in earlier century like [[Tikkana]] and [[Potana]] translated the [[Sanskrit]] books and epics without changing the stories from the original. Ashtadiggajas usually took small, sometimes obscure, stories from [[Purana]]s and used them as plots for writing major [[Kāvya]]s. A ''Prabandham'' can be of three types, viz., Prakhyatam, Utpadyam, Misramam (famous story, purely fictional story, mixed story).<ref name="Adluri 1998" /> Ashtadiggajas have written in all the three genres during the ''Prabandha Yugam''.

There are also at least two dual meaning works during this time. ''Raghavapandaveeyam'' by Pingali Surana simultaneously runs the stories of [[Rama]] and [[Pandavas]]. ''Harischandranalopakhyanamu'' by Bhattumurthy also simultaneously tells the stories of the emperors [[Harischandra]] and [[Nala]].

==See also==
* [[Navaratnas]], the label given to the court of the emperors [[Chandragupta II|Vikramaditya]] and [[Akbar]].
{{portal|Poetry}}

==Ashtadiggaja==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* K.A. Nilakanta Sastry, History of South India, From Prehistoric times to fall of Vijayanagar, 1955, OUP, New Delhi (Reprinted 2002) {{ISBN|0-19-560686-8}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070207182515/http://www.tlca.com/youth/golden-age.html Golden age of Telugu Literature]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20081012045138/http://www.ourkarnataka.com/states/history/historyofkarnataka47.htm Literary activity in Vijayanagara Empire]
*[http://www.samasya.com/kids/stories/ramakrishna/index.html Tenali Ramakrishna's entry into Bhuvana Vijayam]

{{Astadiggajas}}
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[[Category:Telugu poets|*]]
[[Category:Telugu people|*]]
[[Category:Telugu-language literature]]
[[Category:Art and culture of Vijayanagar Empire]]
[[Category:Cultural history of India]] tenali Rama

Ashtadiggajas - Revision history

2401:4900:4E55:5FCB:6F03:7DE8:7376:44C9 at 17:21, 29 September 2021