Krishnadeva Raya

About five hundred years ago, a great king called Krishnadeva Raya ruled over the south of India. His capital was Vijayanagar. There was a great saint called Vidyaranya`. He was very learned. Kings sought his advice. Vidyaranya had two disciples, Harihara and Bukka.

They had been ministers in a small kingdom. They got into trouble. So they came to the saint. The saint asked them to build a city around the Hemakuta hill and start a new kingdom. They built it as desired by the guru and called it Vijayanagar and ruled over it for some time. Vijayanagar means the city of victory. When Krishnadeva Raya came to the throne of Vijayanagar, he annexed many neighbouring states to his kingdom, and built a large empire in the south.

He could achieve this because he was a great warrior and general. He built good roads for his army to move along. He dug many canals to water crops. He constructed many beautiful palaces and temples with mandapas and gopumms. The Tirupati temple is one of them.

The image of Krishnadeva Raya and his wife Tirumala Devi still stand in the Tirupati temple. Krishnadeva Raya had a son, Tirumaladeva Maharaya. He died young. In accordance with Krishnadeva Raya’s wish, his brother Achuta became king of Vijayanagar after him.

Krishnadeva Raya was an able ruler who also wanted to serve his people. He toured his empire every year, heard the complaints of his subjects and helped them. He was also a lover of art and literature. Many scholars, poets and philosophers lived at his court. He was a great lover of Sanskrit. He wrote a book called Amukta Malyada. It is a book of story-poems. He did much for the growth of the Telugu language. His rule was a golden age in the history of south India.