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Sri Valmiki and as embodied in the various recensions of the first bard of the divine muse. Râmayana occupies the foremost place in Telugu literature and we have more than three to four hundred works relating to Rāmāyaṇa and the story is represented by every branch of Telugu literature like Kavya, purana, Prabandha, Dwipada, Śataka, Vachana, Yaksagana, Dandaka, Pada, Gēya and Sankirtana i.e., from the highest classical type of Maha Kavya to the ordinary folk-song sung by the unlettered women and children. From the literary point of view, Ramayana literature began from the 13th century and the bulk of it is produced in the succeeding centuries which is in no small measure due to the propagation of Rāmabhakthi through the earnest devotion of Bhadrachala Rāmadāsa and the divine music of Tyagaraja.
The story is of abiding interest through all ages and climes, and even in these days of modern disintegration in Telugu literature, the greatest modern poets[1] have been handling the time-honored old theme in claşsical model with great success which shows how strong is the hold of Rama cult on the Telugu mind and Telugu genius.
- ↑ (i) Sri Venkata Parvatiswarakavulu - the harbingers of the modern era; and they are twin poets, who have aptly chosen Ramayana of Valmiki to sing in Telugu verse like Kusa and Lava who first sang in Sanskrit.
(ii) Sri Visvanatha Satyanarayana the many sided modern poetical genius has just finished Sundarakanda.
(iii) Sri K. Aswatha Narayana Rao of. Kalagodu, Bellary district, recently wrote the Ramayana in the biggest Dandaka type.
