Nutana-kavi Suranna


Sūranna, who styled himself as Nūtana-kavi was a Telugu language poet from the Vijayanagara Empire of present-day southern India. He probably lived during the 15th or the 16th century, and is notable for Dhanabhi-ramamu, the story of a contest between Manmatha and Kubera.

Biography

Little is known about Suranna's life. He lived in the Vijayanagara Empire, and claimed to have been born in the family of the famous poet Tikkana. He highly praises the deity Bhimeshvara of Draksharamam.
Suranna mentions the 14th-century poet Nachana Somanatha in his book. A verse by Suranna is included in Pedapati Jagganna's anthology Prabandha-ratna-karamu. This suggests that Suranna probably lived during the 15th-16th century. Estimates of his period include 1420–1475, 1425–1480, and c. 1550.

Works

Suranna composed Dhanabhi-ramamu and a drama titled Vishnu-Maya-Vilasa. In Dhanabhi-ramamu, Manmatha and Kubera debate whether humans care more about beauty or wealth. In the end, the god Shiva resolves the dispute by stating that both looks and money are equally important. Besides its literary merits, the work is of historical interest as it provides information about the ornaments and dress of the contemporary period.