Sri Ponna

Sri Ponna
Born	9th or 10th century CE
Died	10th or 11th century CE
Nationality	Indian
Occupation	Poet
Title	Kavichakravarthi, Ubhayakavi Chakravarti

Sri Ponna (Kannada: ಶ್ರೀ ಪೊನ್ನ) (c. 950) was a noted Kannada poet in the court of Rashtrakuta Dynasty king Krishna III (r.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.

His most famous extant works in Kannada are Shantipurana, written in champu style (mixed prose-verse classical composition style inherited from Sanskrit), Bhuvanaika-Ramabhyudaya, a eulogical writing, and Jinaksharamale, a Jain Purana and an acrostic poem written in praise of noted Jain saints and Tirthankars (Jainas) in 39 chapters (kandas).Ramakatha, a writing based on the Hindu epic Ramayana, of which only a few stanzas are available is also assigned to Ponna. Historians Kamath and Shastri are not certain whether his extinct classic, Gatapratiagata, is in Kannada or Sanskrit. However, according to the professor L.S. Sheshagiri Rao of the Sahitya Akademi, the writing is in Kannada and belongs to the genre of "literary exercise".

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