Tirumalamba

Not to be confused with Nanjangud Tirumalamba, 20th-century writer or Tirumala Devi.

Tirumalamba, also known as Oduva Tirumalamba was an Indian polymath, polyglot and philanthropist of the Vijayanagara period who was active as a poet, a musician, a grammarian and a Hindu scholar.^[1] She is chiefly remembered for composing Varadambika Parinaya, a Kavya on the wedding of the Emperor Achyuta Deva Raya and Salaga Princess Varadambika, in Sanskrit.^[2] It was the only Sanskrit romance to be written by a woman. She also knew many scripts and coined the largest word of her time.^[1]

Empress Consort of the Vijayanagara Empire Tirumalamba
Era	Vijayanagara period
Known for	Poetry singing philanthropy Hindu philosophy linguistics
Notable work	Varadambika Parinaya
Spouse	Emperor Achyuta Deva Raya
Relatives	Murtimamba (sister) Sevappa Nayaka (brother-in-law)
Family	Pandya

She also became an empress of the Emperor Achyuta as noted in the epilogue of Varadambika Parinaya where she is described as the "confidante and the be-all and the end-all of the deepest love of Emperor Achyutaraya" and substantiated by other primary sources.^[3] Scholar Lakshman Sarup theorizes that Tirumalamba is the unnamed daughter of a Pandya vassal who wed emperor Achyuta mentioned in a Kanchi Inscription.^[4]