Kumara Kampanna, also known as Kampanna Udaiyar[1] and Veerakamparaya, was an army commander and the prince in the Vijayanagar Empire. He was the son of king Bukka I. Kumara Kampanna led the successful invasion of the Madurai Sultanate. His exploits form the subject of the Sanskrit epic poem Madhura Vijayam written by his wife Gangadevi.[2][3]
According to the poetic legend, it was Ganga Devi who gave Kumara Kampanna the goddess' sword to fight and liberate Madurai from the Sultanate, reopen the Meenakshi Temple, and "to undertake the righting of vast wrongs", states William Jackson.[4]
- ^ https://www.whatisindia.com/inscriptions/south_indian_inscriptions/volume_22/part_1/kampana_udaiyar_2.html [bare URL]
- ^ William Joseph Jackson (2005). Vijayanagara Voices: Exploring South Indian History and Hindu Literature. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-7546-3950-3.
- ^ Devi, Ganga (1924). Sastri, G Harihara; Sastri, V Srinivasa (eds.). Madhura Vijaya (or Virakamparaya Charita): An Historical Kavya. Trivandrum, British India: Sridhara Power Press. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
- ^ William J. Jackson (2016). Vijayanagara Voices: Exploring South Indian History and Hindu Literature. Routledge. pp. 65–66. ISBN 978-1-317-00193-5.