God on the Hill: Temple Poems from Tirupati

by Annamayya, Velcheru Narayana Rao, David Dean Shulman

The devotional poems of Annamayya (15th century) are perhaps the most accessible and universal achievement of classical Telugu literature, one of the major literatures of pre-modern India. Annamayya effectively created and popularized a new genre, the short padam song, which spread throughoutthe Telugu and Tamil regions and would become an important vehicle for the composition of Carnatic music - the classical music of South India. In this book, Velcheru Narayana Rao and David Shulman offer translations of nearly 100 of Annamayya's poems. All of them are addressed to the god associatedwith the famous temple city of Tirupati -- Annamayya's home. This deity is sometimes referred to as god on the hill or lord of the seven hills. The poems are couched in a simple and approachable language invented by Annamayya for this purpose and fall into two major categories, the erotic andthe metaphysical. The erotic poems, usually in the female voice, sing of the complexities of the god's love life. The metaphysical poems are sung in the poet's own voice and explore the relationship between the poet and his god. Though a small sample of Annamayya's surviving corpus, the selectionin this volume suggests the scope of both genres. Rao and Shulman's elegant and lyrical modern translations of these beautiful and moving verses are wonderfully readable as poetry in their own right. The Afterword enriches the reader's understanding, providing historical context and returning us tothe poems themselves with a deeper appreciation.

Genres: Poetry

142 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Soha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredulous of how it isn't famous:(

[Naveen · Rating 4 out of 5]

the god on hill has touched me...

[daniel dillon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book came to my attention as part of a casual conversation with an academic friend. He thought the poems were striking, and was considering using one or more in an upcoming class of his. This was enough for to send me into a compulsion to devour the book, in its entirety, in one sitting.

Though the translators fall short of saying so, it seems clear to me that Annamayya was a hugely influential and unabashedly queer figure who has since been sanitized and institutionalized within the Venkateshwara and wider Telugu devotional tradition. The poems are a delight, as has been the experience of unexpectedly bumping into this queer predecessor.