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The history of Vijayanagara has always been a fascinating subject to ...

The history of Vijayanagara has always been a fascinating subject to ...

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Bhoomandala Dolage Uddanda Mohipana” 19This song like the majority <strong>of</strong> the Bhakti poets’ hymns, locates the poets identification <strong>of</strong>god Vishnu (in case <strong>of</strong>) in a named <strong>to</strong>wn – here, Udipi.Karen Pechillis Prentiss <strong>has</strong> discovered in her study that the pilgrimages <strong>of</strong> the Bhaktihymnists <strong>of</strong> early medieval South India brought what is inside out and what is outside in. 20through their lyrics and through their journey that have brought out their internal elements i.e.their love <strong>to</strong> their personal god, their constant meditation upon Him, and their yearning <strong>to</strong> be inclose <strong>to</strong> Him. <strong>The</strong> external element is the god himself, who is brought inside the poets’ hearts,who is concerned about the people <strong>of</strong> the place where he belongs <strong>to</strong>. Thus the poets arepersonified as bhaktas and the god is alive in everything, including the poets, Karen says. <strong>The</strong>poets sing from experience, the range <strong>of</strong> their emotions encourages identification with them asimperfect people, bound by the limits <strong>of</strong> human condition. <strong>The</strong>y identify themselves as ordinaryhuman beings working against numerous limitations in order <strong>to</strong> reach god. <strong>The</strong> theme <strong>of</strong> humanfailing is most prominent in almost all poets’ hymns. When these internal feelings becomeexpressed in poetry, changes occur: the feelings <strong>of</strong> agony and distress become words in honor <strong>of</strong>their god, and their colloquial language becomes sacred Tamil, Kannada or Telugu according <strong>to</strong>the regional identity <strong>of</strong> the poet.In the Tamil Bhakti poems <strong>of</strong> Siva and Vishnu, thelv rs and N yanm rs address theirvery human problems by doing more than involving themselves in the praise <strong>of</strong> their gods, theyalso presuppose that god comes <strong>to</strong> them. In many <strong>of</strong> the aivite hymns, images <strong>of</strong> Siva are19William Jackson, Songs <strong>of</strong> Three Great South Indian Saints, New Delhi:OUP, 1998, p.4320Karen Pechillis Prentiss, op.cit p.50 , para 241

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