Madhushala

Tirumalamba, a poetess of the Vijayanagara Empire, wrote the Varadambikaparinayam, the story of marriage of King Acyuta Deva Rāya, in Sanskrit which forms the 5^th volume of the series: Women Writings in Sanskrit.

In the court of King Acyutaraya (1529-42 CE) of Vijayanagara there was a poetess of great merit and her name was Oduva Tirumalamba. She was employed as a reader in the royal court whose duty was perhaps the reading of poetical and other compositions to the ladies of the royal family as well as to the royal court. Tirumalamba was popularly known as Oduva (reader) Tirumalamba. Evidently she was a genius, since she was an excellent musician and grammarian, possessing in addition a good command of rhetoric and diction. She was a scholar of Hindu epics, poetry, drama and philosophy and had other accomplishments also; she was a linguist and could write in many scripts. In addition to all these excellent qualities she must have possessed great beauty, for King Acyutaraya became so enamoured of her that he elevated her to the position of his queen (Rajamahisi).

We learn most of these details from the epilogue to the Varadambika-parinaya-campu, celebrating the wedding of King Acyutaraya and his senior queen Varadambika. It is learnt from epigraphical and other sources that Varadambika was the principal queen (Pattamahisi) of King Acyutaraya. We also learn from the epilogue to the campu that she was a patroness of learned priests, scholars and poets and that she made liberal gifts and endowments to temples and religious institutions.

This poem also describes the birth of Prince Venkatadri, the first born of Varadambika. But it cannot be denied that the work shows that Tirumalamba was a highly educated woman, who wrote for the cultured.