Kanakadasa was a musician and a poet from Karnataka. On the occasion of his Jayanti (the birth anniversary), people from all walks of life gather to honour the revered saint. Several cultural programmes are organised, including lectures on the life, works, and teachings of Kanakadasa.
Born on December 03, 1509 as Thimmappa Nayaka in the Kuruba community (shepherds), he turned out to be a warrior. After being miraculously saved in a war, he turned into Haridasa and became a poet, social reformer, philosopher, musician, and a devotee of Lord Krishna. He became a disciple of Vyasaraya, a saint and philosopher of the Dvaita Vedanta, a sub-school in the Vedanta tradition of Hindu philosophy.
It is believed that Kanakadasa found a lot of gold while digging in a garden. He built a temple of Adikeshava in Kaginele with the gold he found. As the Vijayanagara ruler was impressed with this work of Thimmappa, he named him ‘Kanaka’ (gold). Another version is that he got his name due to the great contributions he made to literature.
His Social and Literary Contributions
Kanakadasa played an important role in the Bhakti movement and was against rigid caste-based discrimination, especially in places of worship. He worked for the upliftment of the lower social strata. He composed kirtans in Carnatic style along with Purandaradasa (his contemporary) in Kannada whereas many other available songs were in Sanskrit. He wrote in the Kannada language, which was simple and easy for the common people to understand. Written under the pen name of ‘Kaaginele Adikeshava’, his works were full of devotion and social consciousness. He wrote about the division between the rich and the poor. In many of his writings, he questioned the caste system and critiqued it. Some of his famous works include Nalacharithre, Haribhakthisara, Ramadhanyacharithre, and Mohanatarangini.
Kanakadasa was an important member of Dasakoota, which was a close-knit group of Haridasas. As opposed to Vyasakoota, a group consisting of mainly upper-class pandits, who held debates in Sanskrit, the members of Dasakoota broke this stereotype by singing in the local language which made it easier for them to interact and attract the masses.
Incident of Kanakana Kindi
Apart from this, there is a story passed on about Kanakadasa. It is the story of a miracle that happened in the Sri Krishna temple in Udipi. When Kanakadasa went to visit the temple in Udipi, he was not allowed to enter the temple and pray to Lord Krishna due to his caste. When he tried to secretly enter the temple to have a glimpse of Lord Krishna, he was severely punished and was tied to a pillar on the back of the temple, where Kanakadasa sang songs in praise of Lord Krishna and urged the Lord to allow him to visit and pray. It is believed that the god responded to his prayers, and the idol miraculously turned towards Kanakadasa so that he could see the idol through a hole that appeared in the wall specially for this purpose. Even today, the main door of the temple remains closed and the idol of the god is seen through ‘Kanakana Kindi,’ a window made especially in the memory of Kanakadasa.
Kanakadasa Jayanti
Owing to his contributions to social awakening and literature, Kanakadasa’s Jayanti is celebrated on the 18th day of Kaarthika maas every year. The people of the Kuruba community especially celebrate his anniversary as he is considered an icon of their community. They constitute about 7 per cent of Karnataka’s electoral population and the third largest community. Kanakadasa Jayanti is celebrated in the entire State of Karnataka as a regional public holiday.
Conclusion
We commemorate Jayanti of different people throughout the year not only to remember and honour such personalities, but also to remember and follow the ideology and the social consciousness that they preached centuries ago. However, we find that caste discrimination still persists, though not with the same intensity and form. Therefore, it is important that the coming generations be taught and explained the importance of such contributions and of such people who far transcended their birth identity. These were the people who contributed to literature and language at places where only one language dominated and higher-caste people were concentrated.
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