Sri Krishnadevaraya continues to hold sway over the public imagination in the southern states as well as other parts of the country, even after the lapse of five centuries, for the great services he rendered to the Indian culture and literature in general and Telugu culture and literature in particular, opines K. Suryanarayana, of the History Department in Andhra University.
He was delivering a lecture on "The golden era of Sri Krishnadeva Rayalu" in Visakha public library here on Sunday, jointly organised by the Bharatiya Sikshana Mandal, Itihasa Sankalana Samiti and Telugu Bhasha Samvardhana Samiti.
In the medieval ages, the Vijayanagar empire was established to repel attacks from expansionist Islamic forces from the northern India and to forge cultural unity among various kingdoms in the south, he observed and said Sri Krishnadeva Rayalu had succeeded magnificently in achieving the twin objectives even though he had ruled only for two decades from 1509 onwards.
He narrated at length the military exploits of Rayalu as well as his donations to temples and patronage of fine arts, Telugu literature in particular.
Prof. Suryanarayana opined that Rayalu's services to promoting the cultural unity and integrity of the country should be highlighted more than the political unity he had brought about.
The political unity had disintegrated with the fall of the Vijayanagar empire but the cultural unity is still lasting, he opined.
Retired professor of Telugu in AU, K. Malayavasini, spoke about the poets - Telugu, Tamil and Kannada besides Sanskrit - in the court of Rayalu and Bhuvana Vijayam.
M. Vijaya Gopal, psychiatrist, presided over the meeting. D. Visweswaram of the Bharatiya Sikshana Mandal welcomed the gathering. D.V. Surya Rao spoke about the services rendered by Rayalu to the revival of Vedic culture.
