Shishunala Sharif
Encyclopedia
Shishunala Sharif was a saint poet, philosopher and social reformer from the state of Karnataka
in India
. His compositions of tatvapada(moral poems) are in Kannada language
. Sharif is recognized as the first ever Muslim
poet in Kannada literature
.
Shishunala Sharif was born on 7 March 1819 in Shishuvinahala, a village in Haveri district, Karnataka. He was the only son and was a late born to his parents. The legend has it that, Shishunala Sharif was with the blessings of Gods.
As a child, Shishunala Sharif was a very charming and intelligent. After completing his studies, he worked as a school teacher for a while, before taking up the spiritual search. He found a great Guru in Shri Kalasada Guru Govinda Bhatta. They both shared a very cordial relationship and often engaged in intriguing spiritual discussions.
Though, a Muslim by birth, Shishunala Sharif believed in Hinduism too, also bringing in the communal harmony. In his birth place Shishuvinahala, even today both Hindus and Muslims can be seen worshipping him at the same temple.
Shishunala Sharif was known to compose poems as per the situation and sing them to spread the messages across. Though, he never penned down his compositions, from the word of mouth quite a few them have been passed on to the next generations..
Further more it is believed that Sri Govinda Bhatta, a Brahmin (priestly class in Hindu religion), did not hesitate to make him a Brahmin. Shishunala Sharif's preachings can be compared to those of Kabir Das's
(in northern India).
, and supporting cast included Girish Karnad
, and Suman Ranganath
Sharif's songs have been sung by famous playback singers, notably C. Aswath
.
Raghu Dixit's work is been appreciated for spreading the words of Sharif's wisdom to the world. Raghu's self titled debut album launched by the popular music director duo Vishal-Shekhar
contains two songs "Soruthihudu Maniya Maligi" and "Gudugudiya Sedi Noda", which are inspired from Sharif poems.
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. His compositions of tatvapada(moral poems) are in Kannada language
Kannada language
Kannada or , is a language spoken in India predominantly in the state of Karnataka. Kannada, whose native speakers are called Kannadigas and number roughly 50 million, is one of the 30 most spoken languages in the world...
. Sharif is recognized as the first ever Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
poet in Kannada literature
Kannada literature
Kannada literature is the corpus of written forms of the Kannada language, a member of the Dravidian family spoken mainly in the Indian state of Karnataka and written in the Kannada script....
.
Shishunala Sharif was born on 7 March 1819 in Shishuvinahala, a village in Haveri district, Karnataka. He was the only son and was a late born to his parents. The legend has it that, Shishunala Sharif was with the blessings of Gods.
As a child, Shishunala Sharif was a very charming and intelligent. After completing his studies, he worked as a school teacher for a while, before taking up the spiritual search. He found a great Guru in Shri Kalasada Guru Govinda Bhatta. They both shared a very cordial relationship and often engaged in intriguing spiritual discussions.
Though, a Muslim by birth, Shishunala Sharif believed in Hinduism too, also bringing in the communal harmony. In his birth place Shishuvinahala, even today both Hindus and Muslims can be seen worshipping him at the same temple.
Shishunala Sharif was known to compose poems as per the situation and sing them to spread the messages across. Though, he never penned down his compositions, from the word of mouth quite a few them have been passed on to the next generations..
Further more it is believed that Sri Govinda Bhatta, a Brahmin (priestly class in Hindu religion), did not hesitate to make him a Brahmin. Shishunala Sharif's preachings can be compared to those of Kabir Das's
Kabir
Kabīr was a mystic poet and saint of India, whose writings have greatly influenced the Bhakti movement...
(in northern India).
Film
Santha Shishunala Sharif has been the subject of a Kannada feature film directed by T.S. Nagabharana in 1990. The main character was played by the Kannada actor SridharSridhar
Sridhara was one of lord Vishnu's thousand names when consort to the Hindu goddess Lakshmi.----Sridhar may also refer to:*B.U. Sridhar, Senior Specialist at HCL...
, and supporting cast included Girish Karnad
Girish Karnad
Girish Raghunath Karnad is a contemporary writer, playwright, screenwriter, actor and movie director in Kannada language...
, and Suman Ranganath
Sharif's songs have been sung by famous playback singers, notably C. Aswath
C. Aswath
C. Aswath was an Indian music composer and exponent of Bhavageete in the Kannada language. He was also a singer, and had sung many of his own compositions. He was credited with singing Bhavageete songs and making sure that they reached the common man. He died on 29 December 2009 on his 70th...
.
Raghu Dixit's work is been appreciated for spreading the words of Sharif's wisdom to the world. Raghu's self titled debut album launched by the popular music director duo Vishal-Shekhar
Vishal-Shekhar
Vishal-Shekhar are a music directing duo for Hindi films and are among the leading music directors in the industry today...
contains two songs "Soruthihudu Maniya Maligi" and "Gudugudiya Sedi Noda", which are inspired from Sharif poems.