17.1A classical language
Kannada belongs to the Dravidian family and is written in a script derived from Kadamba and Old Kannada forms. The Halmidi inscription of about 450 CE is the earliest full Kannada-language inscription, and the Kavirajamarga (c. 850) is the earliest surviving literary work. The Government of India designated Kannada a classical language in 2008.[1]
17.2Literary tradition
The tradition runs from the Jain 'three gems' Pampa, Ponna and Ranna, through the Vachana poets of the twelfth-century Lingayat movement (Basava, Akka Mahadevi, Allama Prabhu), the Haridasa devotional poets Purandara Dasa and Kanaka Dasa, and into the modern Navodaya and Navya movements.[2]
Kannada has received eight Jnanpith Awards — more than any other Indian language as of recent counts — including those to Kuvempu, D. R. Bendre, Shivaram Karanth, Masti Venkatesha Iyengar, V. K. Gokak, U. R. Ananthamurthy, Girish Karnad and Chandrashekhara Kambara.[3]
17.3Mysore and the standard dialect
The southern (Mysore) dialect became the base of modern standard Kannada, reinforced by the University of Mysore's Kannada department, the Kannada Sahitya Parishat and the state's textbook and broadcasting institutions.[2] Urdu, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Konkani are also spoken in the district, reflecting long migration along the Kaveri and Ghat routes.