The warning that went unheeded

A few years before he passed away in 1564, Purandara Dasa warned the people of Vijayanagar about the dangers of forsaking god and falling into the trap of gaining wealth and leading an improper life. He sang, “Neechadhiree Bhagya” but the Emperor and the masses remained oblivious. Retribution was swift and the Vijayanagar forces lost in 1565 and Hampi was plundered and thousands of people put to the sword.

He also sang,

“Dharma shravana vetake  murkhage

Karma anushtana vansega dhiruva ,

Durmargi etka Brahmana Janma”

Konage veene gana videtake,

Manikhyavetake  markatge,

Tranavu tolagida hennigethake ,

Katani muthina haravu koralige.

Sadhu rasannavidetake,

Garthabha  udugore  sahithale shvananige,

Kadu vratthavahage  mai neardu hennina,

Odane  bhogipenembabila seyake.

Huttu kurudage  deepavidetake,

Bharastannigetke  kula dharma,

Srushtiyola damage  purandara vittlana

Muti bhajipenemba abhilaksha vetake.

Both Vyasa Raja (1447-1539), the Guru of Purandara Dasa (1480-1564) and the Dasa himself had foreseen the fall of Vijayanagar after the death of Krishna Deva Raya.

Krishna Deva Raya (1509-1530) was an Emperor who had upheld the Hindu dharma and he laid great store by the advice of Vyasa Raja, his Raja Guru. Krishna Deva Raya had immense respect and devotion to Vyasa Raja and he always went by his advice.

When Vyasa Raja warned him about the Kuhu Dosha, Krishna Devara Raya had gone by the perceptor’s advice. He had made Vyasa Raja the Emperor of Vijayanagar and he was reluctant to take back the Kingdom. But Vyasa Raja insisted that Krishna Deva Raya take back the Kingdom.

When Krishna Deva Raya pointed out that he had handed over the Kingdom to a saint and ascetic and that he could not take back what he had given as Dhana or offering, the erudite Madhwa seer turned this very same argument against the Emperor.

Vyasa Raja pointed out gently to the Emperor that he was only a wandering mendicant. He said a mendicant or sage had no interest in worldly things and that a sage could not be expected to take on the duties of a King.

Vyasa Raja then buttressed his arguments by quoting from the Bhagavath Geetha. He said Krishna had clearly said in the Geetha that one must do what one is asked to do or what one is best suited to do. “I am a wandering mendicant and I have no wordly attachment. I was taken away by my guru, Brahmanye Theertha, when I was young. I was brought up to lead a scholastic and monastic way of life. I am best at it. You, who are a King, know how to rule”, said Vyasa Raja.

He said a man who had given up everything to be near Hari had no attachment and even a Kingdom held no interest. Moreover, OI was sent to earth to fulfill a mission and I am still discharging the duty. O, King, I give back the Kingdom to you in the same manner that you gave me. Hence, there is no dosha or sin. No blame will accrue on you and you rule in a just and fair manner. That is all I ask of you”, Vyasa Raja said.

Though Krishna Deva Raya and Vyasa Raja did have difference of opinion, it never came in the way they respected each other. Krishna Deva Raya’s respect to the seer increased manifold when he was saved from the Kuhu Dosha and after he emerged victorious over the Adil Shah forces from Bijapur at the battle of Raichur.

Krishna Deva Raya then inscribed the sign, “Vyasa Raja is mu guru” on a panel in the Virupaksha Temple in Hampi. Krishna Deva Raya passed away in 1529 or 1530, grieving deeply over the death of his only male heir, Tirumala Raya, who appeared to have been poisoned to death.

Though Achuta Deva Raya, the brother of Krishna Deva Raya,  ascended the throne of Vijayanagar and ruled from 1529 to 1542, he had a tough time quelling challenges from Krishna Deva Raya’s son-in-law Rama Raya, also known as Aliya Rama Raya.

Achuta Deva Raya continued to pay respect to Vyasa Raja who was his Raja Guru too. When the time for entering Brindavana came in 1539, Vyasa Raja appears to have warned the Vijayanagar Emperor about the dangers that the Kingdom faced.

Unfortunately, Achuta Deva Raya was unable to rectify the faults that Vyasa Raja and Purandara Dasa pointed. Rama Raya, for some reason, appears to have taken a hostile attitude towards Madhwas and this led to the gradual erosion of support to the Emperors.

The Hindus had been the mainstay of the Vijayanagar Empire for close to three centuries. Once Rama Raya began antagonizing them, they began moving away from Vijayanagar.

The movement of the Hindu intelligentsia, including Haridasas like Kanaka Dasa 1509-1609 (he moved away from Hampi after the death of Purandara Dasa and in his last days, he lived in Tirumala), Vadiraja 1480-1600 (he went back to Sonda after the passing away of Vyasa Raja), Vijendra Theertha (he came to Vijayanagar to pay respect to the Brindavana of his ashrama Gurugalu Vyasa Raja, and then went back to Kumbakonam), Belur Vaikunta Dasa 1480-1550 (He went back to Belur in Hassan district after the death of Vyasa Raja) signaled the decline of Hindu literature.

Vijendra Theertha (1517-1614) too foresaw the fall of  Vijayanagar and he too warned the Vijayanagar Emperor but alas his warning was not taken seriously.

Purandara Dasa’s youngest son Madhwapathi Dasa continued composing Devara namas after his father passed away at the Purandara Mantapa in Hampi in 1564. He too was mildly critical of the epicurean lifestyle of the people of Vijayanagar and its Kings.  

Srinivasa Theertha, who ascended the Vyasa Raja Matha pontificate after Vyasa Raja, ruled till 1564. He passed away in 1564 and he was buried near his guru, Vyasa Raja in Nava Brindavana. Being the Raja Guru of Vijayanagar, he too warned the Vijayanagar Emperor, Achuta Deva Raya and other Kings who followed him but to no avail.

Srinivasa Theertha was followed by Rama Theertha and he became the Raja Guru of Vijayanagar in 1564. He headed the Vyasa Raja matha till 1584 and even he too appears to have forsaken Hampi once the Vijayanagars lost the battle of Rakasa Tangadi or Talikota.    

When the battle of Talikota took place in 1565, Rama Raya was beheaded by the Muslim forces who then converged onto Hampi or Vijayanagar and completely sacked it.  

Madhwapathi Dasa fled to Pune, while Kanaka Dasa took himself away from Hampi and wandered all over Karnataka. Belur Vaikunta Dasa spent his last days in Belur itself. Vijendra Theertha ruled from the Sri Matha pontificate in Kumbokanam.      

Germans discovered this Haridasa

Haridasas are a household name in Karnataka and even elsewhere. Many of the Haridasas such as Purandara Dasa never bothered to write down their compositions. They went about singing their compositions, oblivious of  the need to preserve their literary gems in the written form.

However, the compositions of  the Haridasas needed no introduction and people took to them like duck to water. Their compositions were simple to understand, easy to sing and much easier to memorise.

The Haridasas came to widely known even outside their place of residence. Thus, we have several Haridasas such as Purandara, Kanaka, Vijaya Dasa, Jagannatha Dasa and others whose fame spread far beyond the borders of Karnataka.

There was perhaps not a single Haridasa except this one whose works remained largely unknown not only to the people of the State but also to critics and literary historians. The fact that this Haridasa was a native of  Udupi and he lived most of his life in and around this region was perhaps another reason for his obscurity.

It took two German authors to bring to light the compositions of this Haridasa. One of the German authors who discovered the writings of this Haridasa was none other than Rev. Ferdinand Kittel (1832-1903), the man who earned the gratitude of millions of Indians when he published his remarkable dictionary.

The Haridasa was Nekkara Krishna Dasa, an eighteenth century man of letters. He was essentially a Kannada poet-saint who mainly wrote Keertanes or Devara namas under his pen name Varaha Thimappa.

Krishna dasa as born in a family of Nekkaras in Udupi.

His remarkable compositions work were first discovered by the Basel missionary Hermann Mogling (1811-1881) of Germany. A stunned Mogling, who rated the compositions very highly, published 72 poems of this Dasa in 1856. He called this book. Dasara Padagalu”.

Subsequently, another German, Rev. Ferdinand Kittel came to India and he mentions 24 more unpublished poems of Krishna Dasa in October 1872. These were published in the monthly magazine Indian Antiquary. Unfortunately, these compositions are still untraceable.

Kittel ranked this Dasa alongside Purandara Dasa and Kanaka Dasa.

After the Germans discovered him, Krishna Dasa once again lapsed into obscurity and it is only in the past few years that interest in him has revived. What is more sad is that many of his compositions have been plagerised by some singers who have passed it off as the works of Purandara Dasa.

Krishna Dasa was a great devotee of Srinivasa of Tirumala. Hence, we see a lot of compositions dedicated to Venkateshwara. He also has several compositions on Udupi Sri Krishna.

His compositions clearly exhibit the influence of Madhwacharya. Some of his compositions are invaluable as they document the daily, monthly and annual rituals and rites of the Sri Krishna temple of Udupi.

Like Purandara Dasa, this Haridasa too has written about the life and times of the people, the society in which he lived and the trials and tribulations of people. Thus, we see a social touch in his writings.   

He was born as Krishna Raya to a family of Perampalli Nekkars near Shivalli village. He later became a disciple of  Vibudendra Theertha Swamy of Krishnapura Matha, one of the Asta mathas of Udupi.

Two of his compositions, “Lakshmi Kalyanaa” and “Sri Krishna

Charitre” are considered as classics of  Haridasa literature. All his compositions bear the Ankita Varaha Thimappa.

Some of his other popular compositions include “Ballarolu”, “Ninna Nambidhe Nannu”, “Neene Guruvaagenage”, “Dhanavu Iddhare Saaku”, “Yarige Dooruvenu” , “Salahikomuvarille”, “Endige Dayebaa”, “Rokka Eradakku Dukka Kaanakka  ”,  “Kaadadiru” and “Thannolagidhu”.

Varaha Thimappa Dasa was perhaps only less prolific than Purandara Dasa and Vijaya Dasa. He is supposed to have lived in the times of Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan. When Sagar fell into the hands of Hyder Ali, he fled to Tirumala. He was a contemporary of Madhava Dasa of Udupi.

It took several decades after this incident for this Haridasa to be brought to the notice of the outside world and we owe this to the two German authors. Thus, Varaha Thimappa Dasa must be one of the few poet-saints who were first recognised by foreigners and it was they who brought him back into circulation in the place of his domicile and in the State he lived. 

The first woman Haridasa poet

There here have been close to four hundred Haridasas in Karnataka and these poets-composers have left behind a rich treasure trove of literature spanning several centuries and touching almost all genres of literature.

However, the Haridasas have mainly concentrated on Hari and sung his glory. Talk of  Dasas and the first name that come to our mind is Purandara and the rest such as Kanaka, Vijaya, Jagannatha, Vaikunta follow.

However, what many people do not know is that apart from the Haridasas, there are nearly a hundred Hari Dasis or women writers who equalled their male counterparts in composing hymns, Devarana Namas, Suladis and other forms of poetry.

They have left behind a vast body of Bhakti literature. Unfortunately, only a few of the Hari Dasis such as Helavanakatte Giriyamma, who wrote under the pen name of  Helavanakatteranga, have gained recognition.  

There are several other women Kannada poets and composers of the Bhakti tradition but their names are almost forgotten and barring students of Kannada language and literature and a few research scholars, they remain unheard of.

Among the first Hari Dasais was Galagali Akka (1670-1760). She can be classified as the first Madhwa women poet and certainly among the first Haridasis.  

As her name suggest, she belonged to the Galagali family and her original name Rama. She was the daughter of a village accountant.

Mudgalacharya, a 95-year-old scholar, saw Rama and enchanted by her beauty,  married her. She was just 12 then. He died eight days after the marriage, leaving Rama a widow.

Rama, however, did not lose heart. She began learning shastras and Devarana Namas and quickly mastered them. Her five grown up step sons began tutoring her in Madhwa Siddantha and Madhwa Sampradaya apart from Shastras. She soon began taking part in religious discussions and contests and helped her step sons defeat other scholars in debates. She was honored by the Peshwas, the Wodeyars and others.

What sets aside the compositions of Rama is the manner in which she treats her subject. In one composition on Krishna, she voices the embarrassment that the God feels when he sees he has married so many women.

Today, we have 263 songs and compositions of Rama or Galgalli Akka, as she was affectionately called. Some of  her compositions are Muyyada Haddu which deals with Gowri Pooje: Bheegara Haadu, which as the name itself suggest deals with events after a Hindu wedding: Sringara Tara Tamya, which gives us an exquisite description of various ornaments worn by women. She spent her last few days in Shurpali, near Jamkhandi in Bagalkot district, which was her ancestral home.One of her famous disciples was Bhagavva.

The lake where Kanaka was initiated

There has been lengthy and scholastic debates on whether or not Kanaka Dasa did accept Deekshe from Vyara Raja and if he did or did not accept Hari or Vishnu as the sole God.

There is also a question on whether Kanaka accepted Vyasa Raja as his dharmic guru in the sense that Purandara and other Haridasas were.     

Though a majority of  Kanaka Dasa’s compositions centre around faith and devotion to the Vaishnava parampare of God and he was a leading Hari Dasa of the times, some scholars have argued that Kanaka did not embrace Vaishnavism and that he never converted from his faith as a Beda or shepherd community to which he belonged.

They also claim that Kanaka never accepted Vyasa Raja as his guru and that though he moved closely with the saint, he was never a part of their ideology and faith. This mystery still continues and unfortunately even  Kanaka’s compositions do not tell us much about his faith.

Contemporary accounts too are not very clear on the issue and the Vyâsayogicharita, by Somanatha, a Smartha court poet in the reign of Krishna Deva Raya and Achuta Deva Raya does not shed much light on Kanaka. An authentic biography of Vyasa Raja by his immediate disciple Srinivasa Theertha and a work by Krishna Deva Raya himself  does not solve the issue.

However, there is some clinching proof about the close bond that Kanaka shared with Vyasa Raja and his initiation into the Dasa Koota or school of thought. Interestingly, this initiation is linked to the construction of a large tank by Vyasa Raja. The tank is now in  Andhra Pradesh.

Thus, we have proof of almost the exact location where Vyasa Raja initiated Kanaka into the Dasa fold.  

It was the reign of Krishna Deva Raya (1509-1530) and Vijayanagar Empire had reached its zenith. The Raya had just been saved from certain death by Vyasa Raja who had sat on the throne for a day to rid the Emperor of Kuhu Dosha.

The astonished Emperor had bathed Vyasa Raja in gold and jewels in a ceremony called Ratnabhisheka in 1526. The seer, instead of  making personal use of the wealth, had donated all of it. Some went to scholars and pandits and the rest to construction of tanks and Agraharas in the Vijayanagar Kingdom.

One such tank was being constructed in Kandakur near Madanpalli village which is now in Chitoor district of Andhra Pradesh. Today the place is known as Bettikonda and the lake as Vyasa Samudra.

The tank was so built that water from the surrounding hills collected on the tank. Bettikonda is surrounded by hills and water from these hills would collect in the tank.

Work on the tank was completed quickly but there was a problem. 

The path that would allow water to flow out of the tank once I filled was blocked by a massive boulder and no amount of engineering skill could displace it.

Vyasa Raja then came here and even as he was being apprised about the problem, he received news of Kanaka’s arrival at Kandakur.  

Kanaka who was then called Kanaka Nayaka, sought out  Vyasa Raja and wanted his guidance in the manner of serving Keshava as a Dasa. Kanaka also wanted vyasa to be his guru in this endeavour and requested for mantropadesha.

Vyasa Raja then suggested to Kanaka to recite the Kona (buffalo – vahana of Yamadharmaraya) manthra. Kanaka accepted the advice and he sat under a tree near the tank and began reciting the

Mantra.

Very soon, Yama Kona appeared before Kanaka,  who then took it to Vyasa Raja. The seer appreciated the devotion of Kanaka and directed him to take the massive bull to the place where the huge boulder was blocking the path of water.

The bull splintered the rock with ease and the overflow path for the tank was ready. By then, the new Agrahara around the tank was ready too.

Vyasaraja then consecrated an idol of  Anjaneya near the Agrahara. The temple exists even today and it is managed by one of the farmers living here. Daily pujas are conducted by a priest who lives in Kandakur.

Vyasa Raja also consecrated a temple to Venugopalaswamy in the Agrahara.  Though the presiding deity was Venugopala, he installed two other deities-Narasimha and Anjaneya. When the roof and the main gopura of this temple collapsed, villagers of  Agrahara shifted the idols to the nearby temple of Rama.

There is another shrine dedicated to Hanuman on the bund of the tank. This too is believed to have been consecrated by Vyasa Raja.

Is it not ironical that while Bada, the birthplace of Kanaka is revered and it has become a place of pilgrimage, the place where he was initiated into the Dasa Parampare is still in the realms of obscurity.  

The Hari Dasas and their compositions

 There are scores of  Bhakti traditions or movements in India but perhaps the most unique of them is the Haridasa system. It is also known as the Vaishnava system and it flourished from 1350 to 1850 AD.

This movement was confined almost exclusively to Karnataka (the old Mysore state which also comprised parts of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu) in the beginning before it spread to other states.The Haridasa movement traces its origin to the teachings of Madhwacharya and his followers.

Hari means Vishnu and Dasa means servant. There is a huge volume of devotional songs and compositions called Devaranamas under the Haridasa genre and they are mostly devoted to Rama, Krishna, Srinivasa, Vittala and Narasimha.

The Dwaitha philosophy of Madhwacharya (1238-1317) had a great bearing on the Haridasa movement. Many of the Dwaitha saints were also Haridasas of note.

Though Madhwacharya wrote several works, all of them were in Sanskrit. There is a belief that Madhwacharya wrote two  books in Kannada, not much is known about them and even their veracity is not proved. His followers did write hymns and devotional songs but they were primarily in Sanskrit. Many saints who came after Madhwacharya tried to simplify his teachings and also wrote in the language known to the common man.

One such saint is Naharahi Theertha, one of the four direct disciples of Madhwacharya. The other three direct disciples are Padmanabha Theertha, Madhava Thertha and Akshoba Theertha.

Narahari Theertha wrote two books so that the common man can understand the Haridasa concept preached by Madhwa. He is also the pioneer of the Yakshagana system in Karnataka and the Kathakali dance form in Kerala. (See earlier article in the archive for the contribution of Madhwacharya and Narahari Theertha to the origin and development of Yakshagana).

He has written a few Kannada songs on Vishnu which are available today. The Srikumam inscriptions credits the origin of Haridasa Sahitya to him.

The Haridasa tradition, as it is today, owes much to Sripadaraja Theerha (1404-1502) of Sripadaraja Matha in Mulabagal. This seer was the first to write or compose songs in Kannada. His song Baroo Namma Manege caught the imagination of the people. Soon, Dasas realised the importance of composing songs and singing them in Kannada. Sripadaraja is, therefore, rightly called the pioneer of the Haridasa movement.

A disciple of Sripadaraja was Vyasa Theertha, This seer, who was born in Bannur in Mysore was a major influence on the Bhakti movement and Dwaitha tradition in South India during the period he lived. Vyasa Theertha entered Brindavana on 1539 at Nava Brindavana in Hampi. He was a friend and guide to Purandara dasa, Kanaka Dasa and perhaps even to Vaikunta Dasa.

Vyasa Theertha had a large number of  disciples such as Sudhindra Theertha. Govinda Wodeyar, Srinivasa Theertha and  Vadiraja each of whom made valuable contrinution to Haridasa and Dwaitha literature.  

His Krishna Nee Begane Baro is commonly and ofcourse mistakenly attributed to Purandara Dasa.   

Vadiraja Theertha (1480-1600) was also a great composer. The saint, whose Brindavana is at Sode, was perhaps the most notable and eminent disciple of the redoubtable Vyasa Theertha and his works gave a fresh impetus to Dwaitha philosophy and literature.  

A peculiar feature of the Haridasa sahitya or literature is that it is almost exclusively devoted to Hari or Vishnu and the tenets of Dwaitha philosophy as propounded by Madhwacharya.

 This literature is very similar to the Jain literature that flourished in Karnataka several centuries prior to the birth and spread of  Haridasa literature.

The Jain literature in Karnataka has produced some of the most magnificent works in Kannada and poets such as Pampa, Ranna, Chavundaraya, Naga Chandra and others. The Haridasa literature or Sahitya had a direct bearing on Carnatic music and even the growth of Yakshagana and Vaishanava prose. A Vaishnava, Narayannappa of Gadag, wrote Kumara Bharata and he was called Kumara Vyasa by Vyasa Theertha. Another Vaishnava, Kumara Valmiki, wrote Torvi Ramayana. Both these authors were deeply influenced by the Haridasa movement.

The compositions of Purandara, Kanaka, Jaggantha Dasa, Vijaya Dasa, Gopala Dasa and others was a harmonious mix of litearrture and lyricism and they became the new cornerstone of  Carnatic music.  

Some of the Dasas are:

Purandara Dsa (1480–1564)

Kanaka Dasa (1509–1607)

Vijaya Ddasa (1687–1755

Gopala Dasa (1721–1762).

Jagannatha Dasa (1727–1809)

The most famous of the Dasas and perhaps the most prolific is Purandara Dasa. His riches to rag story is too well known to repeat here. An ardent devotee of Vittala of  Pandrapur (now in Maharashtra), he was greatly influenced by Vyasa Theertha or Vyasa Raja, the preceptor of Krishna Deve Raya and Achuta Deve Raya of the Vijayanagar Kingdom.

His original name was Srinivasa Nayaka and he was given the name Purandara by Vyasa Theertha.

He has written hundreds of devaranamas and all his compositions are based on the Ramayana, Mahabharata or Bhagavatha Geeta.

The Purandara Mantapa which is built in the Tungabhadra river in Hampi was the place where he composed hundreds of songs. He composed Jaggadodharana after seeing the Ambegallu Krishna idol at the Apremaya Temple in Doddamalur which is near Chennapatna on the Bangalore-Mysore highway. Bhagyada Lakshmi Baaramma, his composition, has been made famous by Bheemsen Joshi. Innu Daya Barade, Yaare Rangana, Yaadava Ne Baa, Taarakka Bindige, Amma Nimma Mane Gallali, Bandhidella Barali, Dayamado Dayamado,  are some of his compositions.

Purandara is also called the father of Carnatic music. He also influence Hindustani music. Swamy Haridasa, the Guru of Tansen, was a disciple of Purandara.   

He not only sang in temples but also in the court of Krishna Deve Raya. He was also a notable personality who taught Devaranamas to students of Vijayanagar University of which Vyasa Theertha was the Chancellor. This University was headquartered in Hampi and it had 11,000 students.   

Vyasa Theertha, in one of his compostions, says “Dasarendere  Purandara Dasaraiha”

Kanaka Dasa was a contemporary of Purandara Dasa. His earlier name was Thimmapa Nayaka and he belonged to a family living in Kaginale.
He belonged to the shepherd community (Kurubas) and he is believed to have been born in Bada in north Karnataka. Purandara held him in high esteem and both were in the court of Krishna Deve Raya.
Kanaka Dasa too composed several songs. Once when he was denied entry to the Krishna temple in Udupi and the door of the Garba Gudi was closed on him, he sang so sorrowfully that Krishna turned and a hole appeared in the wall, enabling him to see Krishna. This hole exists even today and  is called Kanakana Kindi. Devotees to the temple have to see Krishna through this hole.
Some of his compositions are Nammama Sharade, Yallaru Madhuvudhu, Heggiddu Heggade, Nee Maayeyo. He wrote 240 Kirtanas, mundigas and Ugabhogas.  His five major works are Nalacharitre, Haribhaktisara,  Nrisimhastava,  Ramadhanyacharitre, a rare work on class struggle and Mohanatarangini..
In his last days, he lived in Tirupathi.
The next Dasa in importance is Vijaya Dasa (1687–1755). The second important development in Haridasa movement began with this Dasa. Born as Dasappa, it is believed that  Purandara Dasa appeared to him in a dream and wrote his ankita or kavyanama  ‘Vijaya Vitthala’, on his tongue.
The tradition of  Dasa Sahitya set by Vijaya Dasa was continued by Gopala Dasa, Prasanna Venkata dasa, Mahipathi Dasa and Jagannatha Dasa. The Harikathamrutasara of Jagannatha dasa is a major work in Dwaitha literature and it is being read, interpreted, discussed and written bout even today.
The advent of Raghavendra Swamy (1595 to 1671) and his miraculous powers gave a new meaning to Hari Dasas of the period. Jagannatha Dasa and Prasanna Venkata Dasa were highly influenced by Raghavendra Swamy. Several dasas visited Mantralaya, the abode of  Raghavendra Swamy, and sang his praises.
Some of the other Dasas who have enriched Kannada literature and contributed to the vast body of Haridasa Sahitya Mohana Dasa, Timmanna Dasa, Rama Dasa, Yogendrappa (Pranesha Vitthala), Karajagi Dasappa (Srida Vitthala), and Ananda Dasa.
It would be grossly unfair to say that only men contributed to Haridasa Sahitya. Women too were in the forefront  and poets and composers such as Helavanakatte Giriyamma, Harapanahalli Bhimavva and others who have made significant contributions.
The Haridasa movement was not confined to Karnataka only. It spread to north India under Chaitanya and to Gujarat (Vallabhacharya), Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Thereare two major forms of Dasa Sahitya- Dasa Kooata
Each Haridasa had his own pen name or Ankita Nama. Narahari Theertha wrote under his pen name  Narahari Raghupathi. The other  writers and their Ankita Nama are as follows: Sripadaraya: (Ranga Vitthala), Vyasatirtha  (Sri Krishna), Vadiraja Teertha (Hayavadana), Raghavendra ( Dheera Venu Gopala),  Purandara Dasa ( Purandara Vittala), Kanaka Dasa ( Adi Keshava),Vijaya Dasa  ( Vijaya Vittala) Gopaladasa (Gopala Vittala), Helevanakatte Giriyamma (Helevanakatte Ranga), Jagannatha Dasa ( Jagannatha Vittala), Mahipathi Dasa (Mahipathi), Prasanna Venkatadasa (Prasanna Venkata), Venugopala Dasa ( Venugopala Vittala), Mohana Dasa ( Mohana Vittala).
 The mention of  the word (not the movement ) Haridasa  or Vaishnava can be traced during the period of the Gangas and Kadambas. The records of these two dynasties speak of them as such.
One of the earliest Kannada work, Bhaktivijaya speaks of a Dasa named Achalananda Dasa.
Though not much is known of this Dasa, he is believed to have been a follower of Lord  Narasimha. He lived in the ninth century during the time of the Rashtrakutas. He was a native of a small village near Bangalore and lived most of his life in Turvekere.
He once went to Pandrapur where he sang the glories of Vishnu. He was then named as  Narasimha Dasa.
Another earlier Haridasa was Pundalika. He is mentioned as a poet in the time of Chalukya King Someshwara. He is mentioned in an inscription dated 1237.
(This is the first article in the series on Haridasas and Haridasa literature. I  will write separate articles on the Haridasas and their contribution as otherwise the article would be too long.)