amrutamalyada

 Krishnadeva Raya (who ruled much of present day Karnataka & Andhra in the 16th century) wrote – ‘Amuktamalyada’ (‘Giver of the worn garland’) on Andal. This is considered a Telugu classic But, the best part is, he composed this while on war with Kalinga . If this is not a fine example of work-life balance, 

Amuktamalyada (Telugu: ఆముక్తమాల్యద) is an epic poem in Telugu composed by Krishnadevaraya of the Vijayanagar Dynasty. Amuktamalyada translates to A garland of pearls. Considered as a masterpiece, Amuktamalyada describes the story of wedding of the Hindu Lord Ranganayaka an avatar of Vishnu and Goda Devi aka Andal the Tamil Alvar poet and daughter of Periyalvar, at Srirangam.

Krishnadevaraya was the king of the Vijayanagara Empire reigning between 1509–1530. He was the third ruler of the Tuluva Dynasty, and presided over the Vijaynagar empire at its zenith. Krishna Deva Raya earned the titles of Kannada Rajya Rama Ramana (lit, "Lord of the Kannada empire"), Andhra Bhoja and Mooru Rayara Ganda (lit, "King of three Kings"). He became the dominant ruler of the peninsula of India by defeating the Sultans of Bijapur, Golconda, the Bahmani Sultanate and the Gajapati Kingdom of Orissa.

Krishnadevaraya during his reign patronised many Telugu, Kannada, Tamil and Sanskrit poets. His court had 8 Telugu poets (Astadiggajalu) - Allasani Peddana, Nandi Thimmana, Madayyagari Mallana, Dhurjati, Ayyala-raju Rama-Bhadrudu, Pingali Surana, Ramaraja Bhushanudu and Tenali Rama Krishna. The Kannada poets Mallanarya who wrote Bhava-chinta-ratna and Satyendra Chola-kathe and Chatu Vittal-anatha who wrote Bhagavata also enjoyed his patronage. The Tamil poet Haridasa and Tamil literature were patronised by Krishnadevaraya. The Sanskrit poet Vyasatirtha who wrote Bhedo-jjivana, Tat-parya-chandrika, Nyaya-mrita (a work directed against Advaita philosophy) and Tarka-tandava enjoyed his patronage. Krishnadevaraya was himself an accomplished Sanskrit scholar and wrote Madalasa Charita, Satyavadu Parinaya and Rasamanjari and Jambavati Kalyana

It is believed that Krishnadevaraya wrote the work, after getting a dream in the portico of the Srikakula Andhra Maha Vishnu temple, in Srikakulam Village (todays krishna District) on the banks of river Krishna, in which Lord Andhra Maha Vishnu appeared and instructed him to write the story of his wedding to Andal at Srirangam in Telugu. In his dream, on being asked why Telugu was chosen, Lord Vishnu is said to have replied

తెలుఁగ దేల యెన్న దేశంబు దెలుఁగేను

          తెలుఁగు వల్లభుండఁ తెలుఁగొకండ

యెల్ల నృపులు గొలువ నెరుఁగవే బాసాడి
దేశభాషలందుఁ తెలుఁగు లెస్స

— శ్రీ ఆంధ్ర విష్ణు

Teluga dēla yenna dēśambu delugēnu
telugu vallabhuṇḍa telugokaṇḍa
yella nr̥pulu goluva nerugavē bāsāḍi
dēśabhāṣalandu telugu les'sa

— Śrī Viṣhṇu's reason on why Āmuktamālyada should be written in telugu by Sri Krishnadevaraya

Which translates to: "If you ask, 'Why Telugu?' It is because this is Telugu country and I am a Telugu king. Telugu is sweet. After speaking with all the kings that serve you, didn’t you realize - amongst all the languages in the country, Telugu is the best!"

Amuktamalyada describes pain of separation (viraha) experienced by Andal, who is described as the incarnate of Lakshmi the consort of Vishnu. Further the poem describes Andal’s beauty in 30 verses written in the keśādi-pādam style, starting from her hair, going down her body till her feet.