Tenali Ramakrishna is a folk hero in the South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, who figures prominently in "a host of folk stories." According to tradition he was a court-poet, or Ashtadiggajas, one of the eight elephants of Telugu poetry, and court-jester of Krishnadevaraya of the Vijayanagara Empire in the 16th century. Tenali Ramalinga was born in a Telugu family as Garlapati Ramakrishna. His father was Garlapati Ramayya, who served as a priest in the Ramalingesvara swami temple in Tenali. While some writers quote that Tenali Rama was an actual poet, others argue that Tenali Rama's...