Ashtadiggajas is the collective title given to the eight Telugu scholars and poets in the court of Emperor Krishnadevaraya who ruled the Vijayanagara Empire from 1509 until his death in 1529. During his reign, Telugu literature and culture reached its zenith. In his court, eight poets were regarded as the eight pillars of his literary assembly. The age of Ashtadiggajas is called Prabandha Age (1540 AD to 1600). All of the Ashtadiggajas had composed at least one Prabandha Kavyamu and it was Ashtadiggajas who gave Prabandha its present form. Most of the Ashtadiggajas are from southern part of present-day Andhra Pradesh state (Rayalaseema) and Ashtadiggajas, Allasani Peddana, Dhurjati, Nandi Thimmana, Madayyagari Mallana and Ayyalaraju Ramabhadrudu are from the Rayalaseema. Tenali Ramakrishna