Ratnatraya Pampa, Ranna & Ponna

Pampa (c. 10th century), called by the honorific Ādikavi (“First Poet”) was a Kannada-language Jain poet whose works reflected his philosophical beliefs.^[1] He was a court poet of Vemulavada Chalukya king Arikesari II, who was a feudatory of the Rashtrakuta Emperor Krishna III. Pampa is best known for his epics Vikramārjuna Vijaya or Pampa Bharata, and the Ādi purāṇa, both written in the champu style around c. 939. These works served as the model for all future champu works in Kannada.

Ranna (Kannada : ರನ್ನ ) was one of the earliest and arguably one of the greatest poets of the Kannada language. His style of writing is often compared to that of Adikavi Pampa who wrote in the early 10th century. Together, Ranna, Adikavi Pampa and Sri Ponna are called “Three gems of ancient Kannada literature“.^[1][2][3]

Ponna (c. 945) was a noted Kannada poet in the court of Rashtrakuta Emperor 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.^[1][2][3] 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.^[2][4][5] According to the scholar R. Narasimhacharya, Ponna is known to have claimed superiority over all the poets of the time.^[1] According to scholars Nilakanta Shastri and E.P. Rice, Ponna belonged to Vengi Vishaya in Kammanadu, Punganur, Andhra Pradesh, but later migrated to Manyakheta (in present-day Kalaburagi district, Karnataka), the Rashtrakuta capital, after his conversion to Jainism.^[6][4]