Fascinating Tales of Tenali Raman

Four friends started a business dealing in cotton. They stored the cotton bales in a warehouse or godown. There was a problem, however, in the godown; it was run over by rats and mice. So, they got a cat to deal with this nuisance. The friends became very fond of the cat and patted and

Every day, Tenali Raman’s wife told him about a house in the neighbourhood. The mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law who lived there had loud arguments daily about something or the other. One day his wife told him that the daughter-in-law had come to Tenali Raman’s house and requested to meet him. Tenali Raman met her the

Tenali Raman had lots of relatives who were landlords.The visited them sometimes. When he was returning to Hampi, he borrowed a thousand varahas from them for the journey. On the way, a thug saw him walking along and, seeing his pouch, guessed that he was carrying a lot of money. “This is a likely victim,”

Tenali Raman had a friend named Vasu Rao who was a rich landlord with large farms and fields. But he was a real miser. He wanted a large house which was quiet and peaceful, where he could rest and relax. He used to grumble to his friend constantly, till Tenali Raman became so fed up

Tenali Raman shifted to a house in a new neighbourhood. The house was good, but there was one problem that troubled him—the neighbourhood boys. They played games like kabaddi, gilli-danda and pitto or sitolia in the street outside and they made such a lot of noise that he found it difficult to work or to

Most people are superstitious. They accept all kinds of things without checking if they are true or not. So one day, when a man who looked saintly came to the outskirts of Hampi, people gathered to meet him.The man, who looked like a sage, gave beautiful sermons and performed some magical miracles in front of

Krishnadeva Raya was very fond of Tenali Raman. The Vikatakavi had a ready answer to every question and a solution to every problem, no matter how difficult it was. But the King enjoyed teasing him with all kinds of questions and riddles. He could set things right without getting angry. And he managed to make

Krishnadeva Raya was unwell; he had a bad cough. The doctors gave him medicines and they told him not to eat sour things like pickles, yoghurt and tamarind. But the King was, after all, a King. He would not obey mere doctors! The doctors and the ministers were all worried. Finally, they decided to ask

Chandu, a rich landowner and a friend of Tenali Raman, was dying in the village of Ummatur. Before dying, he called his three sons and told them to dig under his bed after he had passed away. The three sons did as their father had told them and dutifully dug under the bed. They looked

Tenali Raman was in trouble. He could not make both ends meet. He needed to earn enough to look after himself and his family, Perhaps he would have to travel to some place where he could make a good livelihood.He had heard of King Krishnadeva Raya and his prosperous kingdom, Vijayanagara. It was said that

The fame of young Raman began to spread across Tenali (name of Raman’s village) and Tumuluru. His neighbours and friends were often surprised and amused by his wit, and came to respect the wisdom of his actions and words.One of his neighbours, Rajamouli, enjoyed the things Tenali Raman said and did feel very proud of

Tenali Raman grew up without his father, who died when Raman was a child. So, he was happy to avoid school and caused much worry to his mother with his constant mischief.Then one day, he met a wise old sage. The sage gave him a ‘mantra’ and told him to pray to goddess Kali. Tenali