During the Vijayanagara empire, poets, scholars and philosophers wrote in Sanskrit and the regional languages, Kannada, Telugu and Tamil. They covered subjects such as religion, biography, fiction, music, grammar, poetry and medicine. The Telugu language became a popular literary medium.
Most Sanskrit works were commentaries either on the Vedas or the Ramayana (holy scriptures), written by well known figures.
The period's Kannada poets and scholars produced important writings supporting the Vaishnava Bhakti movement heralded by the devotees of Vishnu.
Though much of the tamil literature from this period came from Tamil speaking regions ruled by the feudatory Pandya who gave particular attention on the cultivation of Tamil literature, some poets were patronised by the Vijayanagara Kings. Krishnadevaraya patronised the Tamil poet Haridass whose works were an exposition of the two Hindu systems, Vaishnava and Shaiva, with the preference of the former.
Notable secular writings on music and medicine were also produced.