A potter's daughter who bested Tenali

She was a lower caste woman who lived in the village of Gopavaram in Andhra Pradesh. The daughter of a potter, her horoscope had marked her for greatness.

Her father was Kesana, a Lingayat potter in Gopavaram on the banks of Pennar in preset day Nellore district.

Though she belonged to a low caste, it did not hinder her from perusing her literary tastes. This woman had developed a deep liking  for literature from a very young age and her father had

decided not to marry her young so that she could peruse her ambition of becoming an educated woman.

This woman is Atukuri Molla (1440-1530) and she outwitted Tenali Ramakrishna, the great poet and wit of Emperor Krishna Deva Raya of Vijayanagar.

This is how the incident unfolded.

Molla was sent to the village school from an young age and she also developed a habit of  visiting the Shiva temple nearby. When she was twelve years of age, her father took her to Srikalahasti where an astrologer forecast that she would bring honor to the family.

One day a poor old poet from Gopavaram visited Vijayanagar and came to the court of Krishna Deva Raya. The Telugu poet and one of the King’s favourite, Tenali Ramakrishna who was present in the court, challenged the poet to a contest.

“I bet neither you nor anyone from your village can write a great work”, he said mocking at the poet.

The poet went back to Gopavaram a deeply disappointed man.

When Molla heard about the how Tenali Ramakrishna had mocked the poet and her village, her blood boiled. She was outraged at the presumption of people that nobody cold produce a great work.

She then sent out a challenge, saying that she would compose a great work in just five days.

She said the great work would be the Ramayana, which would be written in a novel manner.

When news of the challenge reached Tenali Ramakrishna, he laughed loudly and sarcastically remarked how a potter's daughter could have such a big ego.

Molla then began thinking of ways and means to pen the Ramayana, The idea of writing it came to her when she was drying her hair after taking bath.

She sat in the Shiva Temple that she so frequently visited during her childhood and began composing the Ramayana in Telugu. She finished her Ramayana in five day, thus showing people and Tenali Ramakrishna that anything could be achieved if one were to be sincere, honest and dedicated.

We do not know what was Tenali Ramakrishna’s reaction after Molla completed the work. However, what is known for sure is that the work soon became the talk of the Vijayanagar Kingdom.

Since then, it has been inspiring generations of people.

Molla Ramayana has 138 stanzas and six chapters. It uses the minimum number of Sanskrit words and is mostly in colloquial Telugu.

The people took to it like duck to a water. It became a favourite of teachers who asked their students to study it, while grammarians pointed to it for its correct use of words.

Puppeteers used the work to tell the tale of the Ramayana, while singer-saints of Telugu provinces sang it to make people aware of the Ramayana.

As her popularity spread, she was invited to Royal court and got an opportunity to recite Ramayana in front of  Krishna Deva Raya and his poets, including Tenali Ramakrishna.

She spent her last years at Srisailam in the temple of  Srikantha Malleswara. She is the second female Telugu poet of note, after Tallapaka Timmakka, wife of Annamacharya.

The Molla Ramayana  today has its own place in Telugu literature. It not only bested the best wit of the Vijayanagar Kingdom but also captured the imagination of the people by its simple and lucid style. She did not dedicate her work to any Emperor as was the practice in those days. She dedicated it to Rama himself.

Molla now seems to have taken a new avatar. She is regarded by scores of people as being an avatar of Goddess Shambhavi. It is said that when Vijayanagar was being destroyed by the

Deccan rulers, Molla sought the intervention of Vishnu.

Vishnu told her that though Vijayanagar would not survive, her Ramayana would.              

  

   

The temple that was built in a day

This is a temple that legends say was built in a day. It is also the only temple in India where the Kalyana (marriage) ceremony of the deities are conducted in the  night.

This is the temple of  Rama also known as Kodandarama Swamy in Vonimitta, a small town in Cuddapah district of Andhra Pradesh.

Vonimitta is just 28 kms from Cuddapah and it is near to Tirupathi. It is very close to the city of Rajampet.

The Kodandarama Swamy temple is several centuries old. It was constructed in one day by two devotees, Vontudu and Mittudu. The two devotes sacrificed their lives after constructing the temple.

The sacrifice of the devotees did not go in vain. They turned into statues and even today they are  standing at the entrance of the temple. The place also is named after them-Vontimitta.

Another legend says they were thieves and that they gave water to Bukka Raya, the Vijayanagar Emperor. Pleased with this, the Raya named the place after them.

Vontimitta in Telugu also means a single hill. The Kodandarama Temple stands on a single hill. 

The idol of Rama in the temple which has three gopuras was consecrated by Jambhuvantha who also installed the idols of Sita and Lakshmana. Another peculiarity of  this temple is that there is no idol of Anjeneya or Hanuman nearby. This, the locals say, is the only temple in India where Hanuman is nowhere to be seen near his Rama.

However, Anjeneya has a separate temple near the Kodandarama Temple on a small hillock called Gandi.

The three deities of  Rama, Sita an Lakshmana in the Kodandarama Temple are carved out of a single stone or rock.

The temple is in Vijayanagar style and  the main mantapa built by the Vijayanagar kings, has a dancing Vigneshwara.

The walls of the temple and its pillars have beautiful carvings in the Vijayanagar style. The carvings are from the Ramayana and are exquisite.

There are two small ponds here- Rama Theertha,  Lakshmana Theertha and a meditation hall. Locals say Rama and Lakshmana shit arrows into the earth so that water could come out and quench the thirst of people and animals.

The temple was initially built by the Cholas and subsequently by the Vijayanagars.

The temple has  important links to Telugu and Haridasa literature.

One of the greatest Telugu poets, Tallapaka Annamacharya,   visited the temple, and has composed poems praising Kodanda Rama.

Another Telugu poet, Mahakavi Bammera Pothana,  lived here and  dedicated his magnum opus, “Mahabhagavatham”  to Kodanda Rama. Vavilakolanu Subba Rao, known as Andhra Valmiki for translating Valmiki’s Ramayana into Telugu, has also dedicated this work to Kodanda Rama of  Vontimitta. The house where Subba Rao lived is now an ashram and visitors and travelers are welcome to stay here..

Another aspect of the temple is that it is located in the very region where Kishkinda Kanda, one of the seven Kandas of  Ramayana took place. The Anjenaya Temple at Gandi is equally important for a pilgrim as it is believed that it was Rama himself  who created the figure of Hanuman or Anjaneya.

Incidentally, Tallapaka which is the birthplace of Annamacharya, who was a contemporary of Purandara Dasa, is located just six kms from Rajampet.

Annamacharya wrote 32,000 Kritis or compositions and he was a regular visitor to Tirupathi. Many of his compositions are in praise of Venkatesha or Balaji.

Tallapaka is known for its temples of  Chennakesava and Siddheswara. There is also a Srichakra, idol of Eka Tataiah , an ardent disciple of Lord Parasurama, and the Annamayya Dhyana Mandira.

The TTD has adopted Tallapaka for development on the lines of Tiruvayaru. It organises the Annamacharya jayanthi regularly.

Cuddapah is 248 kms from Bangalore by road.  It will take you a little more than five hours and you can stop at Madanapalle or Chitoor en route to Cuddapah. The Horsley Hills in Madanapalle are famous. The Rishi Vally School is located here.

There are two road routes that you can choose from. The first is Chitoor-Tirupathi-Renigunta and then left to Rajampet and further to Vontimitta. The other route is Chitoor-Rayachoti and straight onto Rajampet. There are also trains from Bangalore to Cuddapah.