Official Language of - Karnataka
Spoken by - 37 million
Kannada is almost as old as Tamil, the truest of the Dravidian family. Initially the area of the Kannada speech extended much further to the north than present Karnataka, but was pushed back by the Aryan Marathi.
The early (pre 800AD) bits and pieces of Kannada literature are insufficient to lay claims to the literature's origins. The oldest extant book is king Nripatunga's literary critique Kavi Raja Marga (circa 840). Jainism being a popular religion at the time, there were some Jaina poets like Srivijaya and Guna Varman I. A new trend began with the 'Three Gems' of Kannada literature, Pampa, Ponna and Ranna in the 10th century, where prose and verse were mixed with the campu style. The three poets extensively wrote on episodes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata and Jain legends and biographies. Chavunda Raya, Ranna's elder contemporary then came up with an elaborate work on history of all the 24 Jaina tirthankaras (saintly teachers). The Chola kings of Tamil-land got too aggressive around the 11th century and fought wars. This meant a lean phase in literary activities except for the works of a few writers like Naga Chandra, known for his Jain Ramayana, the Jain poetess Kanti, the grammarian Naga Varman II who wrote Karnataka Bhasha Bhushana in Sanskrit sutras (aphorisms), and Kirtti Varman and Vritta Vilasa.
The middle phase of Kannada literature saw the power of Puranic Hinduism over Jainism. A very distinct phase of writing began in the second half of the 12th century in the Vira-Shaiva phase with Basava's Vachanas. There was a spate of writers like Harihara, Raghavanka and Kereya Padmarasa writing fervently about Shiva in the 12th-13th centuries. Rebellion against the orthodox rituals came from the brilliant poetess Akkamahadevi, a harbinger of Bhakti poetry . The Jains, too, weren't idle all this while; they composed legendary histories of various tirthankaras (ford makers). In all, the 13th century was chock-full with poems, literary criticism, grammar, natural science and translations from Sanskrit.
Kannada literature took a strong Hindu bend with the orthodox Vijayanagara kings (14th-15th AD). Some eminent names were Bhima Kavi, Padmanaka, Mallanarya, Singiraja and Chamarasa. The Bhakti movement also affected Kannada literature in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Ramayana, Mahabharata and Puranas were translated afresh using the folk meters satpadi and regale. Devotional songs of dasas or singing mendicants were compiled, which formed an important part of popular literature.
The next two centuries were a busy period with many rulers and kingdoms such as the Wodeyar kings, Bijapur Sultans and Mughals that led to much literary activity. Bhattakalanka Deva's Karnataka Shabdaushasana (1604AD) on grammar, Sakdakshara Deva's romantic campu- the Rajshekhara Vilasa (1657AD), the historical compositions of the Wodeyar period (1650-1713AD), Nijaguna Yogi's Viveka Chintamani of Shaiva lore (mid 17th century), Nanja Raja's Puranic works the Shiva Bhakti Mahatmya and Hari Vamsa (circa 1760), were some of the notable creations. The popular Yakshagana, dramatization of Puranic tales with much singing, was an innovation of the late 18th century. A good mass of folk poetry thus came to be written.
Modern education made a late entry in Karnataka as compared to other parts of India. Works based on Sanskrit models, like Shakuntala of Basavappa Shastri, continued till the late 19th century. With a little initiation from the Christian missionaries, the Academy of Kannada Literature was set up in Bangalore in 1914. Gradually modern literature gained tempo and translations were made from English, Bengali and Marathi. Kerur and Galaganatha attempted the first novels in Kannada, followed by a host of novelists like Shivarama Karanta, K. V. Puttapa, G P Rajaratnam, Basavaraja Kattimani, Nanjanagudu Tirumalamba (the first major woman writer in modern Kannada) and others. The short story too made its advent with Panje Mangesha Rao and Masti Venkatesha Ayyangar. A new trend in drama began with the use of colloquial language. Poetry, too, wasn't left behind; B. M. Shrikanthayya took Kannada poetry to great heights with innovations like the blank verse.
Literature in Kannada today is a big enterprise, with bustling centres like the University of Mysore, the Karnataka University at Dharwar and the Kannada Sahitya Parishad of Mysore.
Amongst the languages of India that are held in high esteem by the people of India, Kannada has a special significance. It has brought about fame and prestige for the whole panorama of Indian language. It has got the ranking of being the twenty seventh most spoken languages in the whole world. Kannada is also one of those that have received the status of being the official language of Indian states. It is also a proud member of the highly acclaimed Dravidian language family, spoken widely in the southern region of Karnataka. Apart from being official language of Karnataka, Kannada is also used here for the administrative purposes.
Kannada language has been evolved in its present form, undergoing several twins and turns. In fact, the Indian linguists have demarcated the whole of this evolutionary process in to four broad phases. Various social and religious influences have shaped this evolution.
Poorvada Halegannada or Pre-ancient Kananda: This is the first phase of Kannada language and marks the very first phase of its development. The famous Halmidi scripture, dated back to the 5th century CE, were written down in Kannada. The Kannada language that was used in these inscriptions had high influences of Sanskrit. However, as per various inscriptions, the Kannada languages existed much before the writings of these Halmidi inscriptions. In fact, the origin of Kannada can be traced to the ancient scriptures in India. The first written record in the Kannada language is found in Emperor Ashoka's Brahmagiri decree, which dated back to as early as 230 BC, thus proving that Kananda existed for the last sixteen hundred years.
Halegannada or Ancient Kannada:
This marks the second phase, covering a time period of the 9th to 14th centuries CE. It is in this genre that Kannada reached its zenith producing unique literary works. By and large, several Jain and Saivite poets had delivered wonderful works during this phase.
The origin of Jain puranas , also known as Virashaiva Vachana Sahitya or only vachana were produced in this phase of Kannada language development. Primitive Brahminical literary works also proliferated at this phase. By the 10th century, beautiful poems and prose works were written in Kannada, proving that a extensive number of classical prose and poetry works in Kannada had been flourished a few centuries before 'Kavirajamarga'. Kannada The grammar of Kananda language too is quite ennobled. Examples are numerous. Amongst them Nagavarma II's Karnataka-bhashabhushana (1145) and Kesiraja's Sabdamanidarpana (1260) can be cited as the ancient most works of grammar.
Nadugannada or Middle Kannada
The third phase started from the 14th century and continued till 18th century CE. During this time, Brahmanical Hinduism had an enormous impact on Kannada language and literature. Ethereal poems are the gems of Kannada language and literature and these were composed during this phase by Non-brahmin Hindu saints, namely, Kanakadasa and also Brahminical saints of the Vaishnava sect, better known as Jagannathadasa, Purandaradasa, Naraharitirtha, Vyasatirtha, Sripadaraya, Vadirajatirtha, Vijaya Dasa. Kanakadasa's Ramadhanya Charite is an outstanding work, dealing with the concern of class struggles. Famous Haridasa Sahitya, which influenced the gestation of Carnatic music, too falls a part of this Kannada language developmental phase.
Hosagannada or Modern Kannada
This is the last phase of Kannada language and literature. The Kannada works that were produced at the end of the 19th century and also much later are categorized as Hosagannada or Modern Kannada. According to many scholars, however, this phase continued till the beginning of the 20th century. Few literary works in Kannada were produced at this time. Most distinguished among them are the works of renowned poet Muddana. His works may be depicted as the "Dawn of Modern Kannada". Broadly speaking, experts discovered that Indira Bai or Saddharma Vijayavu written by Gulvadi Venkata Raya as the primary literary works in Modern Kannada language development.
The Kannada script has been used to write in Kannada language. The other local languages of Karnataka, Tulu, Kodava Takk and Konkani are also highly influenced by Kannada language. The Telugu script has also been adopted from the old Kannada language script. Modern Kannada language and literature is the most flourishing one in India. Even the highest literary award, namely, the Jnanpith awards, has been bestowed upon innumerable times on writers for their masterpieces in Kananda language. In fact this honor is the most prestigious one for any of the language in India.
Learn Kannada
http://www.languageinindia.com/index.html
http://kannadalearning.org/
http://www.languageshome.com/
http://www.worldlanguage.com/Languages/Kannada.htm
http://www.google.com/intl/kn/
Wiki Link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kannada_language