Nandavarika's-I

Nandavariki's are a subsect of Niyogi's. Traditionally, they are not supposed to marry outside their subsect.
There is a legend on the evolution of this subsect.
A king by name 'Nanda'who had yogic powers of astral travel was stranded in Benares because of non function of those powers. Then some Brahmins there helped him out of the fix on the condition that the king provides for them in his King dom in Karnataka.Goddess Choudeswari alone was a witness to this deal. later, the king backs out, but the brahmins prove themselves by bringing in Godess Choudeswari to offer evidence in their favour.The king is convinced and provides for these brahmins in Nandavaram.Since they hail from Nandavaram, they were later known as Nandavariki's

Nandavarika's - V

7.Thallapaka Srinivasudu

He belongs to Tallapaka Vamsam but his period is not known. He wrote a Sathakam on Lord Venkateswara

8.Machavarapu Papanna ( Around 1740 A.D.)

He wrote ' Nandavarika charitra'

9. Chintagunta Kodanda Ramayya ( Around 1750-90)

He wrote ' Sunanda Parinayam'. Sunanda was the daughter of Bhimasena.She marries one, Pradeepa.

10. Nandavarapu Parvathavardhana Kavi

He wrote ' Sringara Manjari' in Sanskrit.

11.Kaanadam Peddana Somayaji ( 18th Century)

He was in Gadwal samsthanam.He had a title ' Ubhaya Kavitha Nissahaya Sahithi Vihara'.In the court of China Somadeva Bhoopala, there were six poets who rendered Ramayana in Telugu Prose, each one writing one 'Kanda'.Kanadam poet rendered BaalaKanda.Apart from this , he wrote the story of Nandavariki's by the name'Vipravamsam'

Apart from the above, there are some more poets about whom the information is being gathered.

In addition to above, there are a lot of Nandavariki's who worked as Ministers and rulers. Some of them are,

1.Rayani Bhaskarudu

He was one of the 32 famous ministers. He was a man of great charity. There are a lot of CHATU (Casual) poems on him, which will be given in later blogs.
Similar others are,Guntupalli Konda mantri,Ramalinga Bhaskarud,Thimmana Mantri,Sambana Mantri,Pasumarti Hulkki Mantri,Dammavalam Pullappa pradhani etc.;Guntupalli Vidyala Bhasksrudu S/oMutha mantri was a great magician. He was considered GURU by Vipravinodi's

Nandavarika's - IV

5.Bodducherla Thimmana

He was a famous chess player, a match to Srikrishnadevaraya. He was also a good poet.He wrote' Prasanna Raghavam' drama, and he made 'Sowbharicharitra' into a Yakshaganam.This the first ever drama written in Telugu.

6.Chennamaraju chennamaraju( 17th Century

He lived in 17th century.He wrote 'Charuchandrodayam'. Charuchandra was the son of Krishna

7. Ganapavarapu Venkatakavi( 17th Century)

He was and is still the No 1 poet in Bandha and chitra Kavitvams. They are forms of poetry which are very complicated in con struction.This talent he has exhibited in his book' Prabandharaja Venkateswara Vijayavilasam'. After from this, he wrote around 30 books. Contd Nandavarika-V

Nandavismiarika's - III

Annamayya is believed to be the Avatar of 'Nandaka', the sword in the hand of Lord Vishnu.During the later part of his life, he took to Vaishnavism and became Annamacharya.

2. Thallapaka Thimmakka

She was the elder wife of Annamarstyya. She wrote 'Subhadra Kalyanam' in Dwipada.She is the first known woman writer in Telugu.

3. Others in Thallapaka family

Ther are about 12 poets in Tallapaka family starting from Annamaya.Peda Tirumalayya. the son of Annamayya's second wife was also a poet.He got all Sankeerthana's of Annamayya engraved on Copper Plates, which are available in the Balaji Temple. His son, China Thirumalayya wrote the life History of his Grand father, Annamayya .

4. Allasani Peddana

He wrote ManuCharitra. He was one of 'Ashta Diggajam's' in Srikrishnadevaraya's court and was profusely honoured by the king.A golden anklet(Gandapendera)was adorned to his feet by the king with his own hands. The king used to dismount his elephant to offer Peddana a ride with him.On one occasion he carried Peddana's Palanquin with his hands. Such was the respect commanded by Peddana. He was called' Andhra kavvitha Pithamaha' Contd Nandavarika-IV

Nandavarika's - II

The Brahmins prayed to Goddess Chodeswari who appeared before the King and gave evidence in favour of the Brahmins.
The kng realised the greatness of those Brahmins; He got a town by name Nandavaram built in his Kingdom and provided well for the Brahmins.
Since these Brahmins hailed from 'Nandavaram', they were called ' Nandavarika's'

However, there are some great people born into this sect.Let us know briefly about them.

LITERATURE:

1. Annamcharya
--------------

The first great poet found in this sect is 'Annamacharya'.He belongs to 15th century. He is not only the firsy Nandavariki poet, but is also the first poet-composer-singer (Vaggeyakara) of Telugu literature.Apart from 32,000 Songs(Samkeerthana's) on Tirupati Venkateswara, He wrote books like Venkateswra Sathaka and a theory book Sankeerthana Lakshanam.The famous and dear Lullabies like 'Chandamama Rave' and 'Jo Achyuthananda' were also his compositions
Contd Nandavarika's - III