Talk:The Nāyaṉmār Saints:Mollā
By Vishal Agarwal
Atukuri Molla (1440–1530 CE) was born to a humble potter named Keshava, who lived near the city of Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh. Her family were staunch worshippers of Bhagavān Shiva and followers of the teachings of Basaveshwara. However, like Pothana, she decided to write on a theme related to Bhagavān Viṣṇu. She regarded Shiva as her Guru, as she had not received much formal education from any teacher. Like Pothana, she did not dedicate her work to any king. Molla lost her mother when she was a child, and was raised with great affection by her father, whom she salutes at the beginning of her Rāmāyaṇa.
There is an interesting story about how she came to compose her Telugu Rāmāyaṇa. Tenali Rāma, a minister in the court of King Kṛṣṇa Deva Rāya, once insulted a senior poet from Molla’s village. To avenge this insult, Molla declared that she would compose a verse Rāmāyaṇa in Telugu within five days. Tenali laughed and said, “How can a woman – and that too a potter’s daughter – compose the Rāmāyaṇa in Telugu within five days?” But Molla remained unfazed and worked hard.
Within five days, she completed a beautiful Rāmāyaṇa in 138 verses in the Telugu language. Her version was very easy to chant and could be understood by ordinary readers without difficulty. Soon, people in the region began singing it, and it became the most popular of all Telugu versions of the Rāmāyaṇa.
During her lifetime, her fame as a poetess spread so widely that Emperor Kṛṣṇa Deva Rāya of Vijayanagara invited her to recite her Rāmāyaṇa in his presence.