 Naraharitirtha (1281) is considered the first well-known haridasa and composer of Vaishnava devotional songs in Kannada.Before his induction into the Madhva order, he had served as a minister in the court of Kalinga (modern Orissa).The Vaishnava poetry however disappeared for about two centuries after Naraharitirtha's death before resurfacing as a popular form of folk literature during the rule of the Vijayanagara Empire.