Pampa was born around 902 in the Vengi region (present-day Andhra Pradesh) into a
Jain family. Though sometimes mistakenly described simply as a "Brahmin," his family followed a
Jain Brahmans tradition, which was also present in Jainism. also called Jain Pandits—which had its own priestly and scholarly roles devoted to Jain worship and philosophy. Also he wrote
Adipurana (Adinath Purana) about the first Tirthankara of
Jainism. their actual place of origin and native is debated. According to the trilingual inscription (in
Sanskrit,
Kannada and
Telugu) installed by Pampa's younger brother Jinavallabha at Bommalamma Gutta in Kurikiyala village, Gangadharam mandal (in modern-day
Telangana), his father was Abhimanadevaraya (also known as Bhimappayya) and mother was Abbanabbe. It also indicated that his grandfather was Abhimanachandra who belonged to the Jain
Brahmin (Jain Pandits) and hailed from Vangiparru in
Kammanadu in present-day Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh. In the eastern Deccan ruled by Chalukyas of Vengi and Vemulavada was considered as Kannada speaking territory under the rule of Chalukyas and Rashtrakutas, renowned Kannada poets like Pampa and Ponna hailed from Vengi. Kannada dynasties like Chalukyas and Rashtrakutas had dominated the whole of Deccan and the influence of the Kannada language was felt from the Kaveri and Godavari and even beyond. Hence there were many Kannada families residing in modern Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and Pampa was one of them. 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 granddaughter 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 (
abhisheka) 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. Through the lines
aarankusamittodam nenevudenna manam banvaasi deshamam and
puttidirdode maridumbiyaagi men kogileyaagi nandanavanadol banavaasi deshadol he has expressed his deep attachment towards
Banavasi. ==Poetic life==