WORKSHOP. Haḷagannaḍa Workshop Würzburg: Tiṟuḷgannaḍaṁ – The Heart of Early Kannaḍa

Haḷagannaḍa Workshop Würzburg: Tiṟuḷgannaḍaṁ – The Heart of Early Kannaḍa

The Haḷagannaḍa Workshop “Tiṟuḷgannaḍaṁ – The Heart of Early Kannaḍa” will take place at the University of Würzburg, Germany on the 8th and 9th of May 2025.

The earliest available text in Kannada, the Ways of High Poetry (Kavirājamārgaṁ, ca. 850 CE), delineates the area where the highest quality of Kannada (Tiṟuḷgannaḍaṁ) is attested. Unsurprisingly, the boundaries of this territory lie very close to Malkhed, the capital of the Rāṣṭrakūṭa dynasty. By employing this provocative yet clear formulation as a starting point, we intend to characterise the habitat and habitus of early Kannaḍa (pre-1250 CE). In this workshop, we will examine a wide spectrum of textual sources to understand the intersections of geographical context, political authority, poetic discourse, and religious devotion that shape the cultural and literary identity of early Kannaḍa.

The workshop, organised by Anna Aurelia Esposito, Naresh Keerthi and Shubha Shanthamurthy, will be held in the hybrid mode (in person plus online). To participate in person or online please contact Anna Aurelia Esposito (anna.esposito@uni-wuerzburg.de). For more information see the programme here.