Nannaya
Nannaya Bhattaraka, also known as Nannaya Bhatta, is traditionally regarded as the first poet of Telugu literature, earning the honorific Adikavi (first poet). He is believed to have lived in the 11th century and served as a court poet in the Eastern Chalukya domain of Vengi. Details of his life are scarce and mostly known through traditional Telugu literary histories.
Nannaya’s most enduring achievement is the initiation of the Telugu translation of the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata.
In literary terms, Nannaya’s undertaking established Telugu as a language capable of epic narrative and high
Nannaya is remembered as a foundational figure in Telugu literature, whose work initiated a tradition of epic