HISTORY, MUSIC AND EMPIRE IN VIJAYANAGARA- SOUTH INDIA: A STUDY OF THE SONGS OF PURANDARADĀSĀ (C.E 1485-1564)1
Authors :Divya. T
Abstract
The Vijayanagara Empire occupies a prominent place in the study of medieval Indian
history. Historians have analyzed Vijayanagara history using various approaches. The
ruins of the city of Hampi afford a wealth of data to the historians who look at
Vijayanagara from an interdisciplinary perspective comprising of the multi-faceted
aspects of the empire such as art, history, religion, society, economy, archaeology and
anthropology in understanding the questions concerning the empire. This paper is an
attempt to look at how songs of Purandaradāsā can be used as a source to reconstruct the
history of Vijayanagara Empire. Purandaradāsā was a bhakti poet of the sixteenth century
Vijayanagara who lived at a time when the empire was at the zenith of its political power.
His songs composed in simple, colloquial idiom are popular over the vast regions
stretching from the Marāthi speaking regions of the Deccan to the Lower Kāvēri in the
Tamil country. The singer saints have always used the music as a vehicle and metaphor
for their way of life. This paper examines the life and songs of the dāsā songster
Purandaradāsā of the Vijayanagara Empire. It focuses on the origins of Bhakti poetry
hand in hand with its socio-cultural contexts as a continuous poetic tradition and looks at
how songs can be used as a source material to reconstruct history. It discusses the role
played by Purandaradāsā in integrating the people of different cultural, historical and
linguistic zones of Vijayanagara Empire through his medium of songs popularly known
as Dēvaranāmās.
