Already in my previous quiz and also Sri Ari in his posting on first printed
message in Telugu mentioned about Christian Gospels printed in
Halle/Magdeburg (by Benzamin Schultze) in todays Sachsen-Anhalt of Germany.
BTW another book of Schultze was translated by P. Malaiyappan from German in
to Tamil under the title "Nuru Karyangal" and was later translated in to
Telugu under the title:
_buddhi kaligina ..... nooru janma vachanaala yokka chinna pustakam_.
I also mentioned about the printing press at Seyrampore mission in today's
w.Bengal. The Bible, containing old and new Testaments was translated from
the originals in to the "telinga" (!) lang..
C. P. Brown translated some Gospels in to Telugu and that was in prose. It
related to the translation of the Gospel of Luke (in German Lukas) in 1832
under the caption of "looka suvaarta" in to Telugu prose and this was
rendered in to Telugu verse by a Saivite poet.
Robert de Nobili, an Italian Priest (of Madurai Mission) wore the robes of an
Indian ascetic, styled himself as "jagadguru" and went about preaching the
christian faith. He was apprently well versed in Telugu, Tamil and Sanskrit.
Hundreds of books have been translated in to Telugu and published at
Seyrampore, Bellary, Madras and Vizag. Even Arthur Cotton was involved in
such projects.
For a detailed study on this topic pl. refer tp Dr. E. Prakasam's "The Origin
and Progress of the Christian Church in Andhra Desa" published in 1949.
Coming to your question whether any ChamdObaddha poems were written ....
Yes! Pingali Ellanarya of Guntur Dt. wrote a poem of 4 Cantos, known as
"tObhyacharitra" and also as "sarwESwara maahaatmyamu". He probably wrote for
money and satisfied his conscience by giving the 2nd name, as he was not a
Christian but a Saivaite. It gives an account of the life of St. Thomas.
mangaLagiri aanandakavi of Guntur Dt., a niyOgi Brahmin embraced Christianity
and wrote _vEdaanta rasaayanam_ as a poem of 4 Cantos around 1750. It related
to the life and teachings of Christ.
and ...........
Regards,
Sreenivas