Kavitrayam
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Kavitrayam is a Telugu expression for trinity of poets. Kavitrayam popularly refers to the poets who translated the great epic Mahabharata into Telugu. The trinity consists of:
- Nannayya, popularly hailed as Adi Kavi or the first poet, belonged to Rajamundry, an ancient city on the banks of river Godavari. He is said to have belonged to 900 - 1100. Nannayya initiated the magnanimous task of translation of the great epic into Telugu. Before translation, he had to revise Telugu by building new grammar rules and increase its vocabulary. Nannayya used many of the Sanskrit words directly in Telugu too. Thus Nannayya made Telugu more Sanskritized. Thus lot of Nannayya's time was gone in building a scaffold for the great activity. He was able to translate the first 2½ parvas (chapters) into Telugu.
- Tikkana belonged to 13th century's Orugallu kingdom. He is a descendant of another renowned Telugu poet Pothana. (not sure, if vice versa is true). Thikkana took over the task from Nannayya. He could almost complete task by translating from 4th to 18th chapters of the book. He could start the task right from day one, because Telugu was considerably an improved language by his times. However, he never attempted the 3rd chapter, thus leaving the task incomplete.
- Yerraparagada belonged to 16th century's Addanki, near Nellore. He completed the translation by finishing the remaining part of 3rd chapter.