In your childhood, you must have read the story of Tenali Rama or Tenali Ramakrishna at some point or other. The stories of Tenali Rama are also mentioned in school books. Tenali Rama used to be a poet as well as a clever person. He wrote a variety of poems during his lifetime and was well known for his wit and humor. Today we are going to tell you some of his stories and some interesting things related to his life.
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Tenali Rama Biography
Tenali Rama is believed to have been born in the 16th century in the state of Andhra Pradesh. At the same time, his name was Garlapathi Ramakrishna at the time of birth. Rama’s father Garlapathi Ramayya, who belonged to a Telugu Brahmin family, used to be a pandit, while his mother Lakshmamma used to take care of the house.
It is said that when Tenali Rama was young, his father passed away. After which his mother took him to his parents’ place. The name of his mother’s village was ‘Tenali’.
Tenali Rama Education
You will be surprised to know that such a great poet had not received any kind of education. Despite being illiterate, Tenali Rama had mastered languages like Marathi, Tamil and Kannada. It is believed that Tenali had adopted Vaishnavism. For the purpose of fulfilling his needs, he started working in the famous troupe of Bhagwat Mela. Being a part of this troupe, he did many programs.
Tenali Rama and Krishnadevaraya
The pair of King Krishnadevaraya and Tenali of the Vijayanagara kingdom are considered to be equal to the pair of Akbar and Birbal. Tenali started working as a poet in the court of King Krishnadevaraya. It is said that once when Tenali Rama was performing a program in Vijayanagara with his troupe, he first met Krishnadevaraya and the king liked his performance. After this, the king entrusted him with the work of a poet in his court.
But Tenali was so clever that he gradually came closer to the king with his wisdom. Whenever the king was in trouble, he used to remember only Tenali Rama out of his eight poets for advice.
The Film and Cartoon serial
A Kannada film has also been made on the life of Tenali Rama. Not only this, but Cartoon Network also made a play for children and named this play ‘The Adventure of Tenali Rama’ which is now available on Amazon Prime. At the same time, a program based on his life comes on SAB TV. Doordarshan also made a play named Tenali Rama and his stories were shown in this play. Apart from this, many books related to his stories have been printed, which are very much liked by the children.
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Facts about Tenali Rama
- It is said that Tenali Rama used to be a devotee of Lord Shiva. But later he adopted Vaishnavism and started worshiping Lord Vishnu. Not only this, he had changed his name to Ramakrishna. At the same time, Tenali was added in front of his name because the name of the village he used to come from was Tenali.
- The Panduranga Mahatmyam poetry written by Tenali Rama has been given a high place in Telugu literature. This poem is counted among the five epics of this language. Not only this, that’s why his nickname has been kept “Vikat Kavi”.
- Tenali Rama not only used to write books, but he once saved the Vijayanagara Empire from the Sultans of Delhi with his wisdom. Apart from this, there are many popular stories between Krishnadevaraya and Tenali Rama.
- Not only this, it is said that due to adopting Vaishnavism, he was refused education in Gurukul. Due to this, Rama never got an education in his life.