Biography of Mahakavi Muddan

(1869-1901)

Mahakavi Muddan was born in 1869 in Mysore in a very poor family. His real name was Naranappa but his childhood nickname was Muddan. He was very studious and read all the library books of his school. During this period he got in touch with the 'Yakshgan' artists and wrote some poems based on them.

When he became a Drill Master in a school he contacted his fellow teacher Subbarao who was busy composing some Marathi plays for Yakshgan. Under his supervision, Naranappa wrote 'Rathnavali Kalyan drama. Just after its completion, he started writing another composition Kumar Vijay'. By this time he was the master of Kannada language.

Again, in 1894, he wrote Adbhut Ramayan' under Subbarao's generous guidance. In his composition, Naranappa did not mention his name. His other famous works are "Ranpattabhisek, 'Rameshwamegum'.

After 'Rameshwamegum' he started writing his name as Muddan. In 1901, Muddan died of tuberculosis.