151 Stories of Tenali Raman

There lived a proud, rich, pretty and intellectual lady Vidyullatha in Vijaya Nagar. One day, she put up a hoarding stating she would give 1,000 gold coins if any man won her heart. Many intellectuals tried their fate but to not avail. One day, a firewood vendor was shouting outside her house. Getting irritated she […]

The king’s mother once asked him to get fruit for charity and, hence, he immediately got mangoes from Ratnagiri. But on the pious day of charity she died. During the religious rites connected with her death the king told the Brahmins about his mother’s last wish of charity but wanted to know how, she would

One day the king gave a bag of gold coins to all courtiers asking them to give an account of how it was spent after a week. He kept one condition, that every time each courtier spent a gold coin, he had to see his face. So every courtier went to the market but was

Once upon a time, four travellers came to an old women’s hut and asked her if she could keep their little bundle with her. They asked her to return it only if all four of them came together. However, one among them came later and tricked the woman into acquiring the bundle. Later when the

Tenali Raman was a minister in the court of king Krishnadeva Raya. Once, the entire city started having problems with rats that ate everything. But there were fewer cats in the city. So, the king asked everyone to have a cat in the house. Now the cats needed milk. Because every house did not have

One day, a sage told Tenali to chant a mantra 1,000 times in front of Maa Kali. So, when everybody slept at night, Tenali crept out and went to the temple to pray with devotion. When he finished he saw the goddess standing in front with her 1,000 heads. This made Tenali laugh, and the

When Tenali Raman was just a boy his neighbour took him to a very powerful and rich landlord to whom he introduced Raman as a prodigy. He added that Raman had answers to everything that was asked of him and was very witty. Furthermore, he was the only child that he thought was very intelligent

One day when Tenali and his wife were resting at home, they heard some leaves rustle in their garden. They knew it was the intruders and, hence, raised his voice saying he was going to hide his jewels in the well. So he came out with his wife to drop a big box into the

Once the king and Raman were heading for a festival on horseback when the king noticed Raman’s tattered turban.He asked Raman to get rid of it immediately and offered to pay for the new one. To this Raman replied that he didn’t want to part with it since he could do such things with this

Bijapur’s Sultan thought king Krishnadeva Raya was a great threat to him and hence wanted to remove him from the scene.So, he hired Kanakaraju, one of Tenali Raman’s greedy friends, to kill the king, who, in turn, hired a paid assassin. He arranged for a letter to be sent to the king by Tenali Raman’s

Once, Raman asked the king for a loan. To this the king thought that Raman might be asking as he might not have repaid other loans and, hence, couldn’t ask the same people again for money.The king said he could be generous but Raman couldn’t get away without paying back as in other cases.Raman reassured

One day, Tenali saw there were some soldiers travelling with him. They were talking about their veteran past experi-ences on the battlefield.They spoke of bravery, hard times and many crucial battles that they had fought. When they finished, they asked Raman if he had anything to share as they thought he could have nothing related

When Tenali Raman grew up as a fine young man, he set out to meet Krishnadeva Raya. He wanted to enter the gate, but the guard stopped him from entering the gate. He showed Krishnadeva’s official Seal to the guard.So the guard said to Tenali, “You can go in on one condition.”He went inside. A

Jobless Raman was listening to a lecture in the king’s court on the theme ‘All is illusion’.He shared a doubt, “What about eating?” but was snubbed by the scholar who said he was stupid. Even eating was an illusion. He explained one moment the food was on the plate; next moment it changed place.The king

When Tenali was a kid, the provincial ruler visited the school and questioned who the most intelligent child was.Since none got up, Tenali said it was him and the king praised him for his courage. On growing up, he went to Vijaya Nagar’s ruler Sri Krishnadeva Raya’s royal priest Thathacharya and impressed him. He promised