Sri Ponna Biography | Poet

Sri Ponna (Kannada) (c. 950) was a Kannada poet in the court of Rashtrakuta Dynasty king Krishna III (939–968 CE). The emperor honoured Ponna with the title "emperor among poets" (Kavichakravarthi ) for his domination of the Kannada literary circles of the time, and the title "imperial poet of two languages" (Ubhayakavi Chakravarti ) for his command over Sanskrit as well. Ponna is often considered one among the "three gems of Kannada literature " (Ratnatraya, lit meaning "three gems"; Adikavi Pampa and Ranna being the other two) for ushering it in full panoply. According to the scholar R. Narasimhacharya, Ponna is known to have claimed superiority over all the poets of the time. According to scholars Nilakanta Shastri and E.P. Rice, Ponna belonged to Vengi, in modern Andhra Pradesh, but later migrated to Manyakheta (in modern Gulbarga district, Karnataka ), the Rashtrakuta capital, after his conversion to the Jainism.