Kanakadasa Jayanthi, the birth anniversary of philosopher Kanakadasa, is being celebrated on Friday in Karnataka. It is usually celebrated on the 18th day of the Karthika masa of the Hindu calendar every year. This is a public holiday in Karnataka, and usually falls in the month of November.
On this occasion, here are five things to know about the saint-philosopher.
1. Kanakadasa was originally named Thimmappa Nayaka, and he was born on December 3, 1509. He is known for his compositions in the Carnatic style. He used the pen name – ‘Kaaginele Adikeshava’ – for all his songs. Nalacharithre, Haribhakthisara, Nrisimhastava, Ramadhanyacharithre and Mohanatarangini are some of his famous works.
2. Kanakadasa was born in a Kuruba (shepherd) family. Before becoming a saint, he was a warrior. It is believed that he gave that up, and became a Haridasa – servant of god – after he was gravely injured in a battle but survived miraculously.
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3. Kanakadasa played a pivotal role in the Bhakti movement as he actively discarded rigid caste-based systems in places of worship. He, along with fellow Haridasa, Purandaradasa, rejected norms by singing and composing keerthanas in local language Kannada, whereas, most songs of faith were then composed in Sanskrit, inaccessible to the ordinary people.
4. Kanakadasa was a prominent member of the Dasakoota, a close-knit group of Haridasas. This loose congregation of like-minded people was formed by Vyasatheertha Swamiji, who was then also leading a very different religious organisation at the same time: the Vyasakoota, in Karnataka’s Hampi. While the Vyasakoota consisted of upper-class pandits who held debates in Sanskrit, the Dasakoota broke down arid scholasticism of holy texts and sang in the language of the locals, thereby generating kinship with the masses.
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5. Kanakadasa’s story of a visit to a Krishna temple in Udupi has been passed over generations. The priests of the temple prohibited him from entering as he was from the Kuruba community. However, as he was leaving dejectedly, it is believed that God showed himself to Kanakadasa through a crack in the wall and turned to face him. Even today, the main door of the Krishna temple is permanently closed and the idol of Lord Krishna faces the back of the temple, a documentary by actor and playwright Girish Karnad – Kanaka Purandara – showed. Moreover, the crack in the wall has since then been refashioned into a window called ‘Kanakana kindi’, meaning Kanaka’s window. Devotees to this day visit Lord Krishna through this window.
Kanakadasa died in 1609.