Srinatha ( – 1441) was a well-known 15th-century Telugu

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

who popularised the

Prabandha Prabandha is a literary genre of medieval Indian Sanskrit literature. The ''prabandha''s contain semi-historical anecdotes about the lives of famous persons. They were written primarily by Jain scholars of western India (Gujarat and Malwa) from 1 ...

style of composition.

Biography

Srinatha was born in a Telugu Brahmin family of Bharadwaja gotra in Kalapatam village on Gudur Mandal in Krishna district to parents and in 1355/1360. His grandfather was who allegedly wrote a Telugu translation of

Padma Purana The ''Padma Purana'' (, or ) is one of the eighteen Puranas#Mahapuranas, Major Puranas, a genre of texts in Hinduism. It is an encyclopedic text, named after the lotus in which creator god Brahma appeared, and includes large sections dedic ...

. Srinatha was respected as (King among poets) in Telugu, and patronised by many kings. Srinatha worked as a minister in the court of Pedakomati Vema Reddy of Kondaveedu. He managed to get his king's prestigious knife which was taken away by Lingamanedu ruler of Devarakanda in return for his literary prowess. Srinatha produced and dedicated a host of books to kings and enjoyed a luxurious life. However, he seemed to have suffered from poverty at the end of his life. Srinatha died in 1441, after the conquest of Coastal Andhra by Kapileswara Gajapati. He was not the brother-in-law of another famous Telugu poet Potana as shown in the Telugu movies.

Works

Srinatha wrote ''Sivaratri Mahatyam'', '' Haravilāsamu'', '' Bhimakhandam'', '' Kasikhandamu'', ''Srungara Naishadham'', ''Palanati Veeracharitra'', '' Dhananjaya Vijjayam'', Marrutaratcharithra, ''Srungaradipika'' and ''Kridabhiramam'' over the subjects of

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

and

mythology Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

. He translated ''Salivahana Gatha Saptasati'' in to Telugu from

Prakrit Prakrit ( ) is a group of vernacular classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 5th century BCE to the 12th century CE. The term Prakrit is usually applied to the middle period of Middle Ind ...

Style

''Prabandha'' can be described as a story in verse form with a tight metrical structure. Srinatha's ''Srungara Naishadhamu'' is a well-known example of the form. He is also credited with hundreds of extempore poems called Chatuvulu in Telugu. Moreover, Srinath was considered popular for his composition of the Seesa Meter in his books, where most part of his eloquent poetry is written in.

Awards and Titles

He was widely regarded as the ''Kavi'' ''Sarvabhouma'' (The emperor among poets). He had broken the drum of Gouda Dimdimabhattu in the court of Vijayanagara during the reign of Proudhadevarayulu, by his incredible skill of conversing. He was honoured with gold for his dexterity in the Telugu literature by the king.

In popular culture

biographical film A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or group of people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from Docudrama, docudrama films ...

on Srinatha named '' Srinatha Kavi'' directed by Bapu was released in 1993 starring veteran actor N. T. Rama Rao, also popularly called Nata Sarvabhoumudu, and

Jayasudha Jayasudha Kapoor (born Sujatha Nidudavolu), known mononyomusly as Jayasudha is an Indian actress and politician known for her works predominantly in Telugu and Tamil cinema. She has also worked in few Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi films. Known ...

. Srinatha is a prominent character in the Telugu film '' Bhakta Potana'' produced by the

Vauhini Studios Vauhini Studios was an Indian film production company and studio facility in Madras. It was founded by Moola Narayana Swamy and B. N. Reddy (Bommireddy Narasimha Reddy). In later years, Nagi Reddi, owner of Vijaya Productions, acquired Vauhini ...

in 1942. In the fim thespian V. Nagayya played the role of Bammera Potana, and Gowrinatha Sastry played the role of Srinatha as the brother-in-law of Potana.

References

Bibliography

* * {{Authority control Indian male poets Telugu poets 1360s births 1441 deaths 14th-century Indian poets 15th-century Indian poets People from the Vijayanagara Empire Biographical films about poets Vijayanagara poets Scholars from the Vijayanagara Empire