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Rani Abbakka Chowta

A figure from the books

#RaniAbbakkaChowta

Rani Abbakka Chowta · d. c. 1570

In the books · 1 chapter

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Kannada poetry and devotional song — with Purandara Dāsa, the twin pillar of the Haridāsa movement born from Madhva's Dvaita school.

“The temple would not let Kanaka in, so — the tradition says — the god turned round to face him; and today every pilgrim at Udupi sees Kṛṣṇa through Kanaka's window, so that the wall built to shut one man out became the frame through which everyone now sees God.”
— The Great Indians, Ch. 137

The big idea, in the book's words:

“A shepherd-caste soldier turned singer took the machinery of high devotion — epic, allegory, kīrtana — and aimed it straight at caste: rice and ragi argue nobility before Rāma, and the poor man's dark grain wins.”
— The Great Indians, Ch. 137

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