“దేశ భాషలందు తెలుగు లెస్స”

This very popular phrase, which literally translates into “Among the nation's languages, Telugu is the best”, is often attributed to Krishnadevaraya. This is erroneous and actually takes away from the great significance of this phrase.

(Thread)

It is true that Krishnadevaraya wrote this phrase down in the Amuktamalyada. However, he was not the one who said. It was Lord Vishnu Himself who did.

According to the prefatory chapter in the Amuktamalyada, Krishnadevaraya was on a military expedition when he decided to . . .

set up camp in a town called Srikakulam in present-day Krishna District of Andhra Pradesh; this town is also renowned for a famous Vishnu temple. That night, Lord Vishnu, along with Bhudevi and Sridevi, appeared to Krishnadevaraya in a dream and asked for a poem in Telugu.

Why did Lord Vishnu want the poem to be written in Telugu? Lord Vishnu told Krishnadevaraya that “I am a Telugu lord, and Telugu is sweet . . . Among the languages of the land, Telugu is the best.” So, the phrase mentioned at the start of the thread was credited to Lord Vishnu...

by Krishnadevaraya himself! And indeed Krishnadevaraya did write his magnum opus work, the Amuktamalyada, to Lord Vishnu (in the form of Lord Ranganatha) & Andal, the remarkable Azhwar Saint and an incarnation of Lakshmi Devi, in Telugu!

So let’s not do Telugu injustice by taking away the fact that Lord Vishnu himself ordained its sweetness, majesty, grandeur, & vitality among the languages of Bharatham by erroneously attributing it to Krishnadevaraya, even though Krishnadevaraya relayed it to us mere mortals!

Note: All the paintings in this thread are from the Cheriyal Scroll Painting Tradition, which is a traditional Telugu Hindu classical art style native to Telangana. They were made to show stories from our Itihasas & Puranas and is typically made using khadi cotton & natural dyes.