In the heart of the Vijayanagara Empire, there lived a man whose wit and wisdom were as sharp as a razor’s edge. Tenali Rama, the court jester, was not just a source of amusement for the royal court but also a beacon of intelligence and ingenuity. His tales, filled with humor, cleverness, and a touch of social commentary, continue to enchant audiences even today.
Goddess Kaali Maa’s Gift To Tenali Rama
Tenali Ramakrishna was born in Thumuluru in the southern part of India. Legend has it that although he did not receive any formal education, he became a great poet because of Ma (goddess) Kali’s blessings. Here is the interesting story behind it.
One day, a great sage visited Tenali Ramakrishna’s village, and everyone in the village went to seek his blessings. Looking at Ramakrishna, the sage predicted that he would become a great poet.
He told him, “Rama, I will teach you an ancient mantra. Recite this for 1,008 times in the goddess Kali temple on the outskirts of the village. The Ma would appear and grant you wishes.” Rama went to the goddess Kali temple the next morning. He sat in front of the idol with his eyes closed and recited the mantra for 1,008 times, with utmost devotion. After some time, he heard a voice calling him, “Rama, Rama.”
Ramakrishna opened his eyes, and in front of him was goddess Kali, with all her 1,000 heads and multiple arms! Suddenly, Ramakrishna began to laugh uncontrollably. Puzzled, the goddess asked, “Why are you laughing, Rama? What is so funny?”
Ramakrishna apologized for his behavior and said, “Oh, Kali Ma, I was thinking about what would happen if you catch a cold, and imagined you sneezing with all your thousand noses.” Goddess Kali too laughed at his joke and said, “Rama, I like your sense of humor. I have come to grant you wishes. Look! I have two bowls in my hand; one contains sweet milk. Upon drinking it, you would acquire great knowledge of the world. And the other bowl contains curd, which would give you wealth. But you can choose only one bowl, so think carefully and pick one.”
Rama stayed silent for some time thinking, and then replied, “Kali Ma, can I taste both before drinking them?” The goddess agreed and gave him both the bowls.
Before the goddess Kali could realize what Rama was doing, he drank from both the bowls.
The annoyed ma said, “Rama! Why did you drink from both the bowls and disobey my orders?” Rama bowed his head and replied, “I am sorry Ma Kali, but what is the use of knowledge without wealth, and what would I do with wealth without knowledge?”
Goddess Kali was impressed by his quick thinking and intelligence and blessed him, saying that he would become a great poet and would be known for his intelligence and sense of humor.
Moral Of The Story: Fortune favors the bold. Always do the right thing, and do not hesitate to speak your mind.
Tenali Raman in the Delhi Durbar
When Krishna Deva Raya used to rule in Vijaynagar, Babur ruled Delhi. Babur wanted to meet Tenali Raman as he had heard a great deal about Tenali’s quick wit.
Babur’s messenger arrived in Krishna Deva Raya’s court one day. He said, “Greetings, King Krishna Deva Raya. Emperor Babur wishes Tenali Raman would visit Delhi.” Krishna Deva Raya replied, “So be it.”
Tenali Raman reached Delhi and settled in the guesthouse. Meanwhile, Babur spoke with his courtiers in court. He had a plan. “No one will laugh at Tenali Raman’s jokes tomorrow! I want to see how he will make us laugh then.” The courtiers chorused, “Yes, Your Majesty.”
The next day, Tenali Raman arrived in the court. Tenali Raman started to narrate one of his jokes. “Once there was a …” The courtiers cut him off by yawning profusely.
On the sixteenth day, Tenali Raman stopped going to the court. Tenali Raman thought to himself, “Let me follow Babur to see where he goes everyday.” He wore such clothes that no one wold be able to see his face.
Babur and his minister would walk by the Yamuna every morning. Babur said, while giving gold coins to beggars, “There you go! Make good use of them.”
Tenali Raman thought of a plan.
The next day, Tenali Raman disguised himself as an old man. He also had a spade and mango sapling.
Tenali Raman thought, “Let me wait for the king here.” Seeing the king approach,, Tenali began planting the sapling. Babar said, “You’re old, you won’t be alive when this tree bears fruit. Why are you planting it?”
Tenali Raman said, “Your Majesty, I tasted the fruits of trees my forefathers planted. Similarly, my grandchildren will enjoy the fruit of this tree.” Babar exclaimed, “That is a noble thought!”
Wanting to reward the old man, Babar took a bag and and said, “Here, take this bag of gold coins.” Tenali Raman replied, “Thank you, Your Majesty. You have given me the fruit of planting this sapling before it has grown.”
Babar, pleased with this answer too, said, “Well done, again. Take this second bag of gold coins.” Tenali Raman said, “A tree gives fruit once a year, but I am getting the fruit of my labour twice, Your Majesty!”
Babar again appreciated this clever reply. He said, “Bravo! This third bag of gold coins is also yours.” Babur’s minister whispered to him, “Your Majesty, at this rate you will give all your wealth to him. Let’s go.”
Babar, laughing, agreed. Tenali Raman took off his fake beard and called out to them as they were going, “Your Majesty, please look at me.”
Babar was astounded at Tenali Raman’s intelligence. He said, “Tenali Raman, you are truly a great wit! Come back to court for more rewards.”
Tenali Raman went back to Babar’s court and entertained him for many days. Finally, he returned home. Krishna Deva Raya said, “You have brought glory to the kingdom, Tenali!” Tenali Raman flashed back, “Your Majesty, then I deserve a reward from you too!”
Krishna Deva Raya said, laughing, “Yes, indeed. Here are 10,000 gold coins.” Tenali Raman replied, “Thank you, Your Majesty!
The videos you are watching from our Tenali Raman series are inspired by the Kathputli style of puppet theatre in India.
The puppets are usually made out of wood, metal and cloth with exaggerated facial features which have been painted on. The movement of the limbs are controlled by string or in some cases, metal rods. The use of puppets can be seen as one of the oldest forms of entertainment and storytelling in India. The stories performed were not just for amusement – they were also a form of moral and social education for the masses, covering subjects such as illiteracy.
Tenali Rama and the Brinjal Curry
Sri Krishna Devaraya was the emperor of Vijayanagar. He had eight advisors. Tenali Rama was one among them. He was very clever and spontaneous. Sri Krishna Devaraya had some special kinds of brinjal plants in his garden. The brinjal was very rare and the curry made out of it was very tasty which was loved by the emperor. As it was a rare kind, the garden was very guarded and no one was allowed to view the plants without the emperor’s permission.
Once the emperor had arranged dinner for his advisors and the brinjal curry was served. Tenali Rama had enjoyed the brinjal curry very much and went home. But he was unable to forget the taste. He told his wife about the taste of curry. Tenali Rama’s wife also liked brinjal curry, she asked Tenali Rama to bring a few brinjals so that she could prepare a curry. But Tenali Rama knew that the emperor was taking extreme care about the Brinjal plants and he could easily detect a missing number of brinjal from his garden. And, the emperor will punish such a thief if caught stealing a brinjal from his garden.
But Tenali’s wife pleaded with him to bring a brinjal from the garden without telling anybody. Tenali Rama had no choice other than stealing a brinjal from the emperor’s garden. One night he went to the garden, jumped the wall and plucked a few brinjals from the garden. By God’s grace, no one had seen him.
His wife cooked the brinjals and the curry was very tasty.
Like all the mothers, she too loved her son very much and wanted to serve a brinjal curry to him. But Tenali Rama asked her not to do such a thing because if their son reveals to anybody that he had a rare brinjal curry, then they may get caught and get punished for stealing a brinjal from the garden.
But his wife did not agree. She wanted to serve the curry to her son. She was unable to eat the curry alone without serving her little kid who was sleeping after doing his homework on the roof of their house. She asked Tenali Rama to find a way so that their son could also taste the brinjal curry. Tenali Rama also loved his son, so he thought of an idea and with a lot of hesitation went on to the roof to wake up his child with a bucket of water and poured the water on the child.
When the child woke up he said “It is raining. Let’s go inside the house and have a dinner”. After going inside the room he changed the clothes of his son and gave him the rice and brinjal curry for dinner.
Tenali Rama told his wife loudly that “it was raining outside, and let the boy sleep in the room”.
And the next day, the emperor came to know that a few brinjals were missing in his garden. The Gardener who kept the count of each vegetable and flower found that the three brinjals were missing. It became a challenging issue for the emperor and took it very seriously. He declared a reward for the person who can catch the thief. Chief advisor Appaji suspected that only Tenali Rama was capable of doing such things. And they told the emperor about it. The emperor sent his courtiers and asked Tenali Rama to come immediately. Once Tenali Rama came he asked him about the missing brinjals. Then Tenali Rama said, “I was not aware of the missing brinjals”. Then the chief advisor said “Tenali Rama was lying. Let’s enquire about his son”.
The king sent his courtiers to bring Tenali Rama’s son. Once his son came, He was asked what vegetable he had for dinner last night. The child replied, “The brinjal curry and it was very tasty”. Then the advisor told Tenali Rama that He needs to accept his crime. But Tenali Rama said his son had slept very early and he might be saying something which he got in his dream.
So the emperor asked the little kid “Can you please explain clearly what you did yesterday after coming from school?”
Tenali Rama’s son replied that “yesterday after coming from the school, I played for some time and after that, I went on to the roof, did my homework, and slept on the roof. But when the rain started, my father came and woke me up. By that time my dress was fully wet, then we went inside, had dinner and slept again”.
The chief advisor Appaji was shocked because there was no rain at all yesterday. And the atmosphere was fully dry. So they thought the kid had a dream and freed Tenali Rama without any punishment. However, later Tenali Raman told the truth to the emperor and was pardoned by the emperor for his clever witty idea.
Moral: To start with – Stealing is not a good thing! You can always use your brain and ease out of the difficult situations.
Tenali Raman and the Weight Lifter
One day, Tenali Raman and his wife were on their way to Hampi. They stopped at a village on the way to rest and drink water and found the entire village had gathered to watch a weightlifter who was putting on a performance. With his big arms and bulging muscles, he picked up a 200 kg bag of rice with ease.
Tenali was very impressed and exclaimed, “You are very strong! Look how easily you lifted that bag! But I can hold up something heavier! I will carry this hill on my bare shoulders!”
“How long did it take you to prepare?”, Tenali asked the weightlifter.
To which he replied, “3 months of hard work!”
“Since I will be carrying a heavier weight, I will need 6 months to prepare!”, proclaimed Tenali. “And to help me prepare, I will need a comfortable place to stay, nourishing food to eat and daily massages!”
Eager to see Tenali perform this feat, the villagers agreed to host him and his wife. Each day, he was being brought food and given massages. Tenali and his wife spent 6 months living in luxury while being waited on hand and foot.
When the day finally arrived, the entire village gathered at the base of the hill, waiting to see what Tenali would do. Tenali stood next to the village chief and said, “Well, give it to me, then?”
“Give you what?”, the chief asked, looking confused. “You are supposed to pick up the hill!”
“I never said I would pick up the hill, I said I would carry it on my shoulders. Do you not have someone who can pick it up and place it on my shoulders?”
The village chief began to laugh as he realized what Tenali had done. “I bow down to you and your intelligence. A man of your wit and acumen should not be asked to carry such a lowly hill!”
The Thieves and The Well
That night the thieves went to Tenali Raman house and hid behind some bushes. Tenali Raman was strolling through his garden and heard a rustling in the bushes. He knew that there were thieves in his garden. He went inside and told his wife loudly to be careful about all valuables as two thieves were on the run.
Tenali Raman told her to put all her jewellery and valuables in a box. The thieves who were hiding in the bushes overheard this conversation. After some time, Tenali Raman took the trunk and carried it to his backyard. He threw it into the well.
As soon as Tenali Rama went to his house, the thieves went to the well and started drawing water.
They fetched the water for the whole night only to discover the trunk in the water by morning. They happily open the trunk only to find stones in it. Tenali Raman came out and thanked the thieves for giving him a good night sleep and for watering his garden plants.
The thieves knew that Tenali Raman had played the game on them and apologized to him.
Moral of the story : It reminds us that we should never listen to false claims.
Tenali Rama And The Racing Horse
Once, king Krishna Deva Raya wanted to expand his army. So, he needed more horses. He decided to give one horse to each person in his kingdom, to take care of. He also gave everyone a good supply of straw to feed the horses. Everyone except Tenali Rama was happy with this plan.
He shut his horse in one room and everyday at exactly nine o’clock he gave the horse very little straw through the window. He gave the rest of the straw to his cows who became fat and healthy.
At the end of a year, the king wanted to see all the horses. All the people who had been given horses to grow up, brought their horses for inspection.
But Tenali Rama did not bring his horse. On being questioned, he answered that his horse had become so strong that he could not bring it to the court. The king was surprised on hearing this. He said, “Alright, I will send my chief inspector to your house tomorrow morning at nine to inspect the horse there.” Tenali agreed.
The next morning, the chief inspector went to Tenali’s house. He had a long beard. Tenali took him to the room where the horse was kept and asked him to look through the window. When the inspector peeped through the window, naturally his beard went in through the window first. Seeing the beard, the horse thought that it must be straw that was being given to him at the fixed time. It caught hold of the beard in his teeth and pulled. The inspector shouted in pain and tried to pull his beard back. But the horse knew that this was the only food he would get all day and pulled with all his might till the inspector lost his beard.
The inspector went running to the king. He reported that indeed Tenali Rama’s horse was the strongest of them all.
The Biggest Fool
King Krishnadevaraya loved horses and had a collection of some of the best breed of horses in his stable.
Once a horse trader from Arabia came to the court of Krishnadevaraya and told him that he had some very good breed of Arabian horses for sale.
He invited the King to see the horse that he had brought with him and told him that if he liked it, he would send for the other horses too.
The King loved the horse and told him that he would like all his horses.
The King paid him 5000 gold coins as an advance, and the trader promised that he would return with the other horses in 2 days before leaving.
Two days passed by, then two weeks and still, the trader did not return. The King got more and more anxious. One evening, to relax his mind, he went to take a stroll in the garden.
. There he saw Tenali Raman writing down something in a paper. The King went up to him and asked what he was writing. He did not get an answer. The King further quizzed him.Tenali then looked up and told the King that he was writing down the names of the biggest fools of the Vijayanagar Kingdom.
The King took the paper from him and saw his name written at the top. He was furious with Tenali and asked for an explanation. To that Tenali replied that any man who gives away 5000 gold coins to a total stranger is a fool. The King then asked Tenali what if he returned with the horses; to which Tenali said then, in that case, that man would be a fool. He would then write down the trader’s name instead of the king’s.
Moral : Do not believe in strangers blindly.
The King’s Condition
One day, Krishnadevaraya saw a strange dream. He dreamt of a magnificent magical palace. It was made of dazzling stones and floated in the air. The palace had every comfort and amenity that one could ever wish for. It could be lit up with a thousand lights or made to disappear into the darkness in a jiffy.
The next day when the king woke up, he vividly remembered the dream. He summoned all his courtiers and told them about it. The courtiers sang praises of the king and his beautiful dream. The king made a public announcement: “I will give a hundred thousand gold coins to the person who can build me the palace of my dream.”
Everyone was startled at the king’s announcement. They knew that it was not practically possible to build the palace that the king wanted. But no one had the courage to say so. Many of the king’s well-wishers told him that such a palace can only exist in one’s mind. But he refused to listen and threatened his courtiers with grave consequences if they did not find someone who could make his dream come true. The courtiers got worried and approached Tenali Raman for help.
The senior minister requested Tenali Raman, “Dear Tenali, now only you can make our king understand that his wish to erect the palace of his dream is absurd or else all of us will get a severe punishment.” Tenali Raman assured them that he would try to help them.
A few days later, a very old man came to meet the king in his court. He was crying for justice.
Krishnadevaraya asked, “What brings you here my good man? Tell me without fear and I assure you that justice will be done.” “I have been robbed, Your Majesty,” wailed the old man. “Someone has taken away all my savings and now I don’t have a single paisa left.” “Who robbed you?” asked the king angrily. “Such a crime cannot go unpunished. You name him and I will have him hanged immediately!” Your Majesty! I will tell you but first assure me that on hearing upon his name, you will not get angry and punish me instead,” requested the old man.
Yes, I promise,” replied the king impatiently. “It is you, my lord,” said the old man in a trembling voice.
How dare you say a ridiculous thing like that, I will…,” began the king, but then he remembered his promise and calmed down. He asked that the old man to explain what he actually meant to say.
“Your Majesty! Last night, I dreamt that you came with your entourage of ministers and soldiers and looted my entire life’s savings, five thousand gold coins!” said the old man.
“Are you a fool or completely insane?” roared the king. “How can you treat your dream as a reality? Dreams are not true!”
“But they are, Your Majesty! If your dream of a palace hanging in air can come true, why can’t my dream come true?”retorted the old man.
And then, the man took off his beard, hair and stood before the king. It was none other than Tenali Rama!
He bowed before the king and said, “Your Majesty! This was the only way of convincing you that building the palace of your dreams was not practically possible.”
Moral: If people talk foolishly, you can use their own logic to show them that they’re being illogical.
Tenali Raman and the three dolls
The great king Krishna Deva Raya had a lot of wise ministers in his court. The wisest of them was Tenali Rama. One day, a merchant came to the king’s court from a foreign kingdom. He saluted the king and then said, “Your Majesty, I have heard from many people that you have very wise ministers in your court. But with your permission, I would like to test the wisdom of your ministers.” This aroused the king’s interest and he gave the merchant his permission. The merchant gave the king three dolls that looked identical. He said, “Though these dolls look similar, they are different in some way. If your ministers can find out the difference, I will bow to their wisdom. But if they can’t, I will assume that there are no wise ministers in your court. I will be back in thirty days for the answer.”
The king asked all of his ministers except Tenali Rama to assemble. He gave them the three dolls and told them to find the difference in them in three days’ time. But at the end of three days, none of the ministers could figure out the difference. The king got worried and called Tenali Rama. He said to him, “Tenali, I did not summon you before because I thought that this problem will be too simple. But since no one has been able to find the solution, it is up to you now. Find the difference between these dolls.” Tenali took the three dolls and went away.
The problem proved difficult for Tenali too, but at last, after a lot of effort, he figured out the difference. He went to the court with the three dolls on the day that the merchant had to return. Then, he announced in front of the whole court that he had found the difference between the dolls. He said, “These three dolls are different because one of them is good, one average and one bad.” When everyone asked Tenali that which doll was which, he showed them a tiny hole that was present in the ears of each of the dolls. Then, he took a very thin wire and put it in the hole of the first doll’s ear. The wire came out from the doll’s mouth. He did the same with the second doll and the wire came out from the doll’s other ear. In the third doll, the wire went to the heart and did not come out.
Tenali Rama explained, “In the first doll, the wire went in through the ear and came out through the mouth. So, this doll is bad as it represents people who cannot keep a secret. In the second doll, the wire came out of the other ear. So, it is average and represents harmless people who do not understand what is said to them. The third doll, in which the wire went to the heart and did not come out, represents good people who will keep the secret that you tell them.”
The king, the merchant and all the courtiers were very impressed with Tenali’s wise answer. Then Tenali said, “But there can be another explanation too. The first doll represents people who gain knowledge and spread it among others, so it is good. The second doll represents people who do not understand what they are taught, so it is average. The third doll represents people who have knowledge but keep it all to themselves. They do not teach anyone anything and so they are bad people.
The king was even more impressed. He asked, “Can there be any other explanation?” Can you think of a third explanation to answer the king?
Tenali and his Cat
Once upon a time, Vijaya Nagar Kingdom was under the menace of rats. There were rats everywhere – closets, kitchens, bedrooms. They nibbled on everything possible they ate books, wood, paper, food and clothes. King Krishna Deva Rava himself was fed up with the tiny creatures. Tired of seeing rats everywhere, even on his food, the king decided that strong measures need to be taken to get rid of the menace. So, the king ordered every household to raise cats – strong and healthy cats!
So each household started getting cats. The more the cats, the lesser the rats were in the Kingdom. The King was very proud that he had solved the rat problem. But, after a couple of days, people started complaining that their cats consuming a lot of milk.
So, the king gifted every house a cow so that there woud be enough milk for the cats. However. Tenali Rama, the wisest of all the ministers in King Krishna Deva Ravas court thought it was to be a sheer squander to waste all the milk on a cat, though he to raised one out of respect for the king
Every morning. Tenali would pour the boiled milk into a pan for his cat. One day as he was pouring out milk for his cat, his cat rushed to take a sip but bumt its tongue and fled
From then onwards, Tenali Rama noticed something strange – his cat would dash out of the door every time it was served milk. Eventually, the wise Tenali thought, rather than waste the milk, it was better to drink it himself. Days passed by and his cat grew lean and weak.
One day, the king ordered everyone to bring their cats to court. “I want to see the cats are being fed well,” commanded the king. He wanted to reward the master of the healthiest cat and punish those who didn’t feed their cats well. When everyone assembled, he was shocked as well as disappointed to notice that it was Tenali Rama’s cat which was the weakest and skinniest of all.
“Are you not feeding your cat well, Tenali?” asked the king
“Your Majesty, it seems like this cat does not like milk very much.”
The king could not believe Tenali as it was impossible that a cat could run away fom milk.
Your Majesty!” said Tenali, “if you want you can offer milk to the cat and see it for yourself.” So, a bowl of milk was brought and, to the king’s surprise, the cat fled away as soon as it caught sight of the millk.
“What did you do Tenali? Surely you must have done something that has made the poor cat dislike milk!” shouted the king.
“Your Highness, the first time I gave it milk, the milk was hot and it did not strike my mind that it would burn the cat’s tongue. Indeed it did. Since it stopped having milk, it has turned out to be very good at catching rats!” exclaimed Tenali. “Let’s forget that that was the main purpose of raising the cats, in the first place,” said wise Tenali.
Finally, the king understood Tenali’s point and let him go scurrying cat.
For Readers
Tenali Rama’s legacy lives on, a testament to the power of wit and wisdom. His stories, passed down through generations, remind us that intelligence can be as sharp as a sword and humor as potent as a shield. As we bid adieu to this legendary figure, let us carry forward the lessons of his life: to use our minds not just for personal gain, but for the betterment of society.