 According to the modern Jain scholar Hampa Nagarajaiah ("Hampana"), Pampa was born in Annigeri, spent his early childhood on the banks of the nearby Varada river and his mother Abbanabbe was the grand daughter of Joyisa Singha of Annigeri in the modern Dharwad district of Karnataka state.Frequent descriptions of the beauty of the Banavasi region (in the modern Uttara Kannada district) and even the sprinkling ("abhishek") of water from the Varada river on Arjuna's head during his coronation in Pampa's epic "Vikramarjuna Vijaya" testifies to the poet's attachment to the Banavasi region.However, according to the Sheldon Pollock, Pampa is believed to have come from a Telugu-speaking family or region.