Thread by @SomaariSiddha

Today is the Jayanti HH Sri Vidyaranya. The fourteenth century monk and the seer of Sringeri Math in Karnataka to whom the south of India vows a debt unpayable.
If the indigenous culture, languages, temples and art forms of south exist, it is because of him.
#VidyaranyaJayanti

When the South was shattered by the first wave of muslim invasions under Khilji's forces, many great Kingdoms which were symbols of art, literature and culture of India were destroyed.
Many temples were brought down, thousands were killed and taken slaves.

As the time passed, the viceroy of the invading Delhi Sultanate forces in Madurai, Jalaluddin Ahsan Khan declared independence and thus began the rule of Madurai Sultanate in 1335. The Madurai Sultans were religious fanatics under whom life turned into a hell to native Hindus.

The tyranny was recorded in detail by the Ibn Batutta in his chronicles. Meanwhile God had his own plans.
A new beginning was destined for the south of India that would go on to develop into a golden era.
The guiding force behind this was none other than Sri Vidyaranya.

Harihara and Bukkaraya, who served the kingdom of Kampli that was destroyed by the muslim invasion, survived the atrocities (even forced conversion to Islam as some accounts suggest). They were guided and helped to establish the great Karnataka or Vijayanagar empire by Vidyaranya

The legend says, the two brothers Harihara and Bukka saw a 'Rabbit bite a dog' in the banks of the holi river Tungabhadra and were advises to establish their kingdom at that holy place which. Finally in 1336AD, Harihara was coronated as the first king of Viajayanagara empire.

Thus Vidyaranya attained the title 'Karnataka Simhasana Pratishthapanaacharya'. This was no small achievement. The Karnataka empire or Vijayanagar became the protector of the indigenous culture and languages of the south of India. The trade flourished, art was patronised.

The legends of Music were encouraged and the revolution that led to a system of music was witnessed. The system thus formulated by Purandaradasa was called Karnataka Shastreeya Sangeeta or Karnatic Classical as we call it today.

Great temples were built and cities were developed. The Capital of Hampi stands till today as a testimony of the flourishing architecture. Kumara Kampana the son of Bukkaraya defeated Madurai Sultans and ended their misrule and rebuilt the destroyed temples including Srirangam.

The capital city stood as a testimony of their love for architecture and South or Dravidian architecture flourished. Kumara Kampana, son of Bukkaraya defeated Madurai Sultans ending their misrule, this protecting the natives and rebuilt the destroyed temples including Srirangam.

Some other architectural marvels include Lepakshi temple, Virupaksha temple, Vidyashankara Temple at Sringeri etc. The architecture adapted the styles of previous South Indian kindgoms which include Chalukyan and Cholan styles.

Many poets of Kannada, Telugu and Tamil were patronised. Kings themselves were scholars. The legendary king Krishnadevaraya was one such King under whom literature flourished and he himself was a poet. Legend says that the gold ornaments were traded in street markets in his rule

Thus the South Indian native languages were encouraged and many scholars in music and art wrote their works in their native languages. This patronising art and literature continued even after the fall of Vijayanagar Kingdom under their subordinates who became independent.

One of them was the famous Mysore Kingdom. They continued the heritage of Vijayanagar including the famous Dasara celebration during the ten days of Navaratri, which became even more famous as Mysore Dasara and is celebrates even today officially by the govt of Karnataka.

All this could not have been possible if there was no force to resist the foreign invaders who had already taken hold of the North India. The foresight of the seer like Vidyaranya created such a resistance to invasions kn the south and protected South India and it's nativity.

Today we may take pride in being Kannadiga or a Telugu person or a Tamilian. We may proudly talk of our poets, dance forms, architecture metc. None of this would have been same if there was no Vijayanagar Kingdom under the guidance of Vidyaranya.

This is a day to remember that father of South Indian revival, Sri Vidyaranya. Let us all pray him for his continued blessings on India, it's culture and heritage.

All said about his contribution to art and culture, he was also one of reatest seers of the Sringeri Sharadapeetha, established by Adi Sankara, who revived Hinduism and tradition of Vedanta which lead to other movements like today's Ramakrishna and Chinmaya mission

He composed various hymns and wrote many commentaries on the mimamsa sutras and works of Adi Sankara including the biography of Adi shankara in the form of Shankara vijayam. His works include Parasharamadaveeya, Sarvadarshana Sangraha etc.

Salutations to lotus feet of Vidyaranya