Name Gopana Gopana | ||
Gopana (c. 14th century AD) was an army officer and a Telugu poet who composed Sindhumativilasamu, the first Telugu literary work of the Southern school. Gopana was also one of the important generals in the army of the Vijayanagar prince Kumara Kampanna II and played a leading role in the conquest of the Madurai Sultanate.
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gopana mantra debi konark gananatya
Personal life
Gopana was born in an Arvela Niyogi Brahmin family and belonged to the Bharadwaja gotra. His father was one Narasanamatya. Gopana joined the service of the Vikayanagar Empire at an early age and was one of the leading commanders in Kumara Kampanna Udaiyar's 1371 expedition against the Madurai Sultanate which resulted in the successful conquest of Srirangam and restoration of the Ranganathaswamy Temple to its former glory. Gopana also played a part in the conquest of Madurai city in 1378.
Literary works
Gopana's only literary work of merit is the Sindhumativilasamu, a poem in Telugu. It relates the love affair between Jaya and Sindhumathi in Madurai. The poem consists of a total of two cantos and has a lot of Sanskrit shlokas interspersed in between.
Religious affiliation
Gopana was an ardent devotee of Venkateswara and attributed his literary prowess to Venkateswara's grace. During his expedition into the Tamil country, Gopana came under the influence of Vedanta Desika and became a follower of visishtadvaita