November 1st is Kannada Rajyotsava—the state day of Karnataka, the southern Indian state where I spent the first part of my life. To mark the occasion, I want to highlight a Kannada poetic form today: the vachana, which simply means “that which is said,” or “a saying.”
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Poetic Sunday: The Vachana: That Which is Said
As I mentioned, today I bring you the vachana to celebrate Karnataka Rajyotsava Day.
What Is the Vachana Poetic Form?
The vachana is a form of prose-like poetry in Kannada that combines direct language and everyday speech with hints of spiritual intensity. Vachana literature emerged in the eleventh century and flourished in the twelfth, particularly among the Kannada-speaking sharanas (devotees of Shiva). Among its best-known poets are Basavanna, Akka Mahadevi, and Allama Prabhu (all of whose poems and writings I grew up reading or hearing).
The word vachana means “saying” or “what is said.” True to its name, a vachana feels more like an urgent thought spoken aloud than a constructed poem. An everyday object, a familiar activity, or an ordinary human experience can become the starting point for a profound spiritual or philosophical question.
Rooted in devotion to Shiva, these poems also questioned empty ritual, social divisions, and the gap between what people professed and how they lived. Their language brought spiritual questions down to the realities of ordinary life, making room for both devotion and dissent.
What Makes a Vachana Distinctive?
At its most basic, the vachana is
- free-form: Has no fixed stanza structure or prescribed line count.
- unmetered and unrhymed: Follows no prescribed meter or rhyme scheme.
- rhythmic: Draws its musicality from natural speech, repetition, questions, and parallel expressions.
- conversational: Uses plain, direct language and everyday imagery to convey deeper ideas.
- devotional and questioning: Addresses Shiva while challenging empty rituals, outward piety, and social inequality.
- signature-bearing: Often includes an ankita (signature address), the poet’s chosen name for the divine, usually toward the end of the vachana.
How to Write a Vachana-Inspired Poem
1. Begin with something ordinary. Choose an everyday object or experience: a cup, a broom, a doorway, a lamp, a pair of hands, or a familiar household task. Describe what you see or do before going deeper.
2. Find the contradiction. Look for an uncomfortable truth about yourself or the world. Perhaps you speak of generosity but hesitate to share, or seek peace while holding on to resentment. Use the words for introspection by having your poem question yourself.
3. Speak plainly. Use simple, direct language and everyday details. Use the familiar ‘Show not tell’.
4. Create a natural rhythm. Try repeated phrases, parallel statements, or a series of observations. Also, it is free verse, so let it feel so.
5. Ask a deeper question. What does this ordinary experience tell you about love, pride, faith, fear, generosity, or the way we live?
6. Close with an address or realization. Traditional vachanas often include an ankita, the poet’s chosen name for the divine. You might instead address mercy, nature, or something else. After all, this is a modern adaptation of the traditional.
One possible structure
- An ordinary observation
- A second observation that echoes it
- A detail that challenges what came before
- A question or realization
- A closing address
My Vachana-Inspired Attempt
Making Room
All day long I shelved the books.
I gave each one its own space.
When my friend called,
I let it ring
until she went to voicemail.
O keeper of empty spaces,
for whom have I made room?
~ Vidya Tiru @ LadyInReadWrites
The challenge of writing a vachana-inspired poem is not counting syllables or finding rhymes, but finding something worth saying, and discovering the clearest, most honest way to say it.
References and Further Reading
- Kannada Literature – Wikipedia
- Vachana Sahitya – Shastriya Kannada
- Vachana – Writory
- Kayakave Kailasa: A Musical Rendition of the Vachanas – Azim Premji University
Recently
On My Blog And the Homefront
I finally got the golu dolls back in storage making this golu season a looong one.. and Halloween this year had me changing my DIY costumes between the two schools as an itinerant RSP – from a Crayola marker to a minion. This year I saw many dinosaurs again along with an amazingly detailed DIY Transformer, complete with headlights! And I wondered how and where people store their Halloween decorations each year given I know how much time and space it takes for my golu dolls themselves.
Upcoming
On My Blog and On the Homefront
Not sure what might show up on my blog but hope to get something more here. As for the homefront, Deepavali is coming soon (next Saturday for us) so have to do something for it!
Celebrations
Literary Celebrations (close-to-it also!)
- Literary birthdays this week include: Terrence McNally and William Cullen Bryant on Nov 3rd; Charles Frazier and Joyce Maynard on the 5th of Nov; James Jones and Colson Whitehead on Nov 6th; Albert Camus and Helen Garner on the 7th; Bram Stoker, Margaret Mitchell, Raja Rao, and Kazuo Ishiguro on Nov 8th; Anne Sexton on Nov 9th
- November means numerous literary celebrations, with Family Stories Month, National Life Writing Month, National Family Literacy Month, and National Novel Writing Month!
- It is Cliche Day on the 3rd.
- International Tongue Twister Day – Second Sunday in November (so the 8th)
Foodie Celebrations
- The 2nd of Nov is National Deviled Egg Day
- While Nov 3rd is National Sandwich Day
- Followed by National Candy Day on the 4th of November
- And Nov 5th is National Doughnut Day
- Up next, it is National Nachos Day on the 6th
- While National Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day is on Nov 7th
- And National Fig Week is celebrated November 1st through the 7th.
- Then Nov 8th is National Cappuccino Day
Other Celebrations and Observations
- November 2nd is Be the Impact Day, Look for Circles Day, and World Ballet Day
- November 3rd is National Accessory Day, Give Someone a Dollar Day, and Zero Tasking Day
- National Stress Awareness Day is on the first Wednesday in November
- Nov 6th observes Saxophone Day
- National Bison Day is celebrated on the first Saturday in November, which is the 7th.
- Nov 8th is National STEM/STEAM Day and World Radiography Day
Wrapped Up: My Sunday Scribblings
So dear reader, you have reached the end of this Sunday Scribblings! As always, I welcome your thoughts, comments, and suggestions about this post. Will you be attempting to write the vachana? And, of course, do let me know if you plan to celebrate any of these mentioned celebrations this coming week/month?
Linking this to the Sunday Post over at the Caffeinated Reviewer and the Sunday Salon.
