Tirumalamba

Not to be confused with Nanjangud Tirumalamba, 20th-century writer or Tirumala Devi.

Empress Consort of the Vijayanagara Empire
Tirumalamba
EraVijayanagara period
Known for
  • Poetry
  • singing
  • philanthropy
  • Hindu philosophy
  • linguistics
Notable workVaradambika Parinaya
SpouseEmperor Achyuta Deva Raya
Relatives
FamilyPandya

Tirumalamba, also known as Oduva Tirumalamba was an Indian polymath, polyglot and philanthropist of the Vijayanagara period who was active as a poet, a musician, a grammarian and a Hindu scholar.[1] She is chiefly remembered for composing Varadambika Parinaya, a Kavya on the wedding of the Emperor Achyuta Deva Raya and Salaga Princess Varadambika, in Sanskrit.[2] It was the only Sanskrit romance to be written by a woman. She also knew many scripts and coined the largest word of her time.[1]

She also became an empress of the Emperor Achyuta as noted in the epilogue of Varadambika Parinaya where she is described as the "confidante and the be-all and the end-all of the deepest love of Emperor Achyutaraya" and substantiated by other primary sources.[3] Scholar Lakshman Sarup theorizes that Tirumalamba is the unnamed daughter of a Pandya vassal who wed emperor Achyuta mentioned in a Kanchi Inscription.[4]

  1. ^ a b Upadhyay, Jay. "The Feminisms of Dharmic India". The Illinois Undergraduate Journal of History. 1 (1): 5. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  2. ^ "Telugu Women Writers of the Last Millennium". Retrieved 16 January 2007.
  3. ^ Sastri, Suryakanta (1970). Varadambika Parinaya Campu. Chaukhamba Amarabharati Prakashan. p. 1.
  4. ^ Sarup, Lakshman (1928). Proceedings And Transactions Of The Fifth Indian Oriental Conference Vol 1. University of Panjab, Lahore.