Nemichandra, court poet of King Veera Ballala II and the Silhara King Lakshmana of Kholapur, wrote "Lilavati Prabandham" (1170), the earliest available true fiction (and hence a novel) in Kannada, with an erotic bent. Written in the "champu" metre, with the ancient town Banavasi as the background, it narrates the love story of a Kadamba prince and a princess who eventually marry after facing many obstacles. The story is based on a c. 610 Sanskrit original called "Vasavadatta" by Subhandu. His other work, "Neminathapurana", unfinished on account of his death (and hence called "Ardhanemi" or "incomplete Nemi"), details the life of the 22nd Jain tirthankar Neminatha while treating the life of the god Krishna from a Jain angle.