Kanaka Dasa

Kanaka Dasa
Painting of Kanakadāsa
Personal life
BornThimmappa Nayaka
(1508-11-30)30 November 1508
Died1606(1606-00-00) (aged 97–98)
Kaginele
Parents
  • Beerappa (father)
  • Bachchamma (mother)
OccupationRuler, saint, poet, philosopher, composer
Religious life
OrderHaridasa (Dasakuta)
PhilosophyDvaita, Vaishnavism
Senior posting
GuruVyasatirtha

Kanaka Dasa (1509–1606) also known as Daasashreshta Kanakadasa, was a Haridasa saint and philosopher of Dvaita Vedanta, from present-day Karnataka, India. He was a follower of Madhvacharya's Dvaita philosophy and a disciple of Vyasatirtha. He was a composer of Carnatic music, poet, reformer and musician. He is known for his keertanas and ugabhoga, and his compositions in the Kannada language for Carnatic music. Like other Haridasas, he used simple Kannada and native metrical forms for his compositions.