We have all grown up to Tenali Raman stories as kids.
On reading his stories, we are always awed by his extraordinary intelligence and wisdom, along with his humorous tricks.
For those who don’t know, Tenali Raman was a poet, scholar, thinker and the court advisor to King Krishnadevaraya in the Vijayanagara Empire, who ruled from C.E. 1509 to 1529.
Wikipedia
Tenali Raman was a Telugu poet who hailed from what is now the Andhra Pradesh region, well known for folk tales which focus on his wit
All stories about Tenali Raman are funny and interesting and will make you think twice. He is known for his relationship with the great King and his world-famous problem-solving skills.
Kids always love his stories that are simple to understand, have a moral and will pique their curiosity.
Who was Tenaliraman?
Tenali Raman is an Indian poet, scholar and thinker along with being an advisor in the court of Sri Krishnadevaraya. He was born in what is now known as Andhra Pradesh and is famous for his witty and sharp folk tales.
Tenali Raman was one of the eight poets or Ashtadiggajas in Krishnadevaraya court.
He knew several languages including Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam and Marathi.
Wikipedia
We have heard of the famous “The thieves and the well” story by Tenali Raman and how he fooled the thieves. Kids always have a laugh at the end of his stories. It teaches them a great moral that they remember throughout their lifetime.
So, let us see what the best Tenali Raman stories that you can read to kids at bedtime are. Are you ready? Let’s get started.
Let us look at some of the Tenali Raman stories
1. The Greedy Brahmins – Tenali raman stories
This has to be one of the funniest Tenali Raman stories that will have your kids cracking up in no time.
The story is about King Krishnadevaraya’s mother, who was a very religious and pious lady. She wanted to present Brahmins with ripe mangoes as a gesture of respect towards them. Sadly, the King’s mother died that night. The King was full of sorrow, yet he remembered that he had to fulfill his mother’s wish.
After he had performed all her religious rights, he called some of the brahmins and told them of his mother’s wish and how we wish to perform it.
The brahmins however, suggested that his mother’s soul would only rest in peace if, the king gave them golden mangoes instead of regular mangoes!
The King obliged, and the next day he invited the brahmins to the court to provide them with the mangoes made of gold.
Tenali Raman was present when they came to the court and immediately understood the greed of the brahmins.
Tenali Raman steps in
He invited them to his house the next day to teach them a lesson. The brahmins were very happy that they got the golden mangoes from the King. They were also overjoyed that Tenali Raman had invited them to his house.
The brahmins thought that maybe, Tenali Raman also wanted to make a donation to them.
But when they got to his house, they saw that Tenali Raman was standing with a hot iron bar!
This astonished the brahmins.
Then Tenali Raman told them that his mother had died of rheumatism and she would have wished to burn her legs with the hot rod so that the pain would subside. Therefore he wanted to burn the legs of the Brahmins so that his mother’s soul to rest in peace.
The brahmins immediately understood they had been tricked!
They quickly returned the golden mangoes to Tenali Raman and ran off. The brilliant Tenali Raman gave all the golden mangoes to the King and told him how the brahmins had fooled him.
The Greedy Brahmins, a classic Tenali Raman story, is hilarious and carries a tremendous moral for kids. It is one of the best Tenali Ramakrishna stories in English.
Moral of the story : One should not be greedy and should find happiness in whatever one has or gets!
2. The Thieves and The Well – Tenali ramakrishna stories
The Thieves and The Well is another one of Tenali Raman’s brilliant stories. It teaches kids a valuable lesson. Tenali Raman’s wit, as well as his way of teaching lessons, is evident in the story. One day the just King Krishnadevaraya was surveying his prison. There he found two prisoners who begged for his mercy. The prisoners told him that they were expert burglars and they could help the King catch other burglars. Krishnadevaraya was a kind and understanding King. He said to them that he would release them and make them his spies on one condition. First, they had to break into the Tenali Raman house and steal all his valuables. The expert thieves agreed to this readily.
Tenali Raman intervenes
That night the thieves went to Tenali Raman house and hid behind some bushes. Tenali Raman was strolling through his garden and heard a rustling in the bushes. He knew that there were thieves in his garden. He went inside and told his wife loudly to be careful about all valuables as two thieves were on the run. Tenali Raman told her to put all her jewellery and valuables in a box. The thieves who were hiding in the bushes overheard this conversation. After some time, Tenali Raman took the trunk and carried to his backyard. He threw it into the well.
As soon as Tenali Rama went to his house, the thieves went to the well and started drawing water. They fetched the water for the whole night only to discover the trunk in the water by morning. They happily open the trunk only to find stones in it. Tenali Raman came out and thanked the thieves for giving him a good night sleep and for watering his garden plants. The thieves knew that Tenali Raman had played the game on them and apologized to him.
Moral of the story : It reminds us that we should never listen to false claims.
3. Tenali Raman and the Cursed man – Tenali ramakrishna stories in English
In the land of Vijayanagara, there was a man called Ramaya. He was considered inauspicious by the people in the town. They believe that seeing him in the morning would destroy their whole day, and they would not be able to eat anything throughout the day. When the King came to know about this, he invited Ramaya to his court and asked him to stay in the next room. The next day the King was ready for his lunch, and there was a fly on his plate. He ordered for a fresh lunch to be made. By the time it was made, he had lost his appetite.
The King believed that he had lost his appetite because of Ramaya. Therefore he sentenced the man to death. Hearing this, Ramaya’s wife rushed to Tenali Raman with a lot of grief and sadness. The next morning, the soldiers were taking Ramaya to be hanged. Tenali Raman met them on the way, whispered something in Ramaya’s ear and went away. Before hanging him, the guards asked Ramaya for his last wish. He replied that he wanted to send a note to the King.
When the King read the note, it said: “By seeing my face somebody lost his appetite all day, but by seeing the King’s face somebody loses his life. Then, who among us is the most cursed man. Me or the King?” The King realised his mistake and set Ramaya free.
Moral of the story : Do not believe in superstitions.
4. A handful of grain or a thousand gold coins – Tenali Raman short stories
Searching for Tenali Raman short stories in English? Here’s one that we love. This is the story of Vidyulatha of Vijayanagara Kingdom. She was intelligent and had a vast knowledge of ancient books and fine arts. But she was also arrogant. In the story, she was put to shame by a wood seller who wanted her to pay a handful of grain. He said that if she doesn’t pay exactly a handful, she will have to pay him a 1000 gold coins. The heated argument was taken to court, and the judge was impressed by the firewood seller’s intelligence. Vidyulatha had to pay him a 1000 gold coins and take off her board of intelligence from outside her house.
Moral of the story: One should always be humble and grateful for his achievements and intelligence.
5.The biggest fool – Tenali raman stories in English
This is the story of King Krishnadevaraya and how he bought some horses(or how he tried to buy some horses). When an Arabian horse trader came to him with his horses, Krishnadevaraya was impressed by them and wanted to buy all of his horses. He straightaway gave the money for all the horses to the trader who promised to bring him the horses in 2 days time, but he never showed up. This pushed the King to the top of Tenali Raman biggest fools’ which he was making. The King, who saw this, asked him what would happen if the horse trader brought the horses. He replied that then the horse trader would be at the top of his list.
Moral of the story: Do not believe in things blindly.
6.Tenali Raman and the great Pandit – Tenali raman short stories in English
Here’s another witty number from the Tenali Raman’s stories for kids.
This is a story of a great Pandit who came to Vijayanagar. He claimed that he could defeat anyone with his knowledge. The King’s minister debated with him and lost. Then it was Tenali Raman’s turn. He told the Pandit that they would debate on ‘Thilakstha Mahisha Bandhanam’, a book he had never heard of. The pundit asked for time to prepare, but he was sure that he would lose, so the same night, he packed his bag and left. The next morning the King was impressed, and he called Tenali Raman and asked him about this rare book that had scared the Pandit away. Tenali Raman said that there was no book like that and the King was impressed with his cleverness.
Moral of the story : Never be arrogant, however knowledgeable or wise you are.
7. The King’s dream – Tenali raman stories for kids
The story is about Krishnadevaraya again. One day he woke up after dreaming of a beautiful floating palace in the clouds. He wanted to make it a reality, and one of his ministers agreed to do it. The King followed up after a few weeks, but the minister was just lazying away. Then after a few weeks, an old man came who claimed that he was a merchant who was looted. The man said he had seen in his dream, his house and family being looted by the King and his ministers. The King was angry and asked how that could happen. This is when he realised that it was Tenali Raman dressed as an old man so that he could teach the King a lesson.
Moral of the story : It is always best to not chase after impossible dreams.
8.The reward and punishment – Tenali raman funny stories
When Tenali Raman first came to Hampi, he wanted to meet the King. This is the story of how he did this easily. He went to the palace gate and when the guards asked him why they should let him, Tenali Raman said that he knows the King is kind and generous, and would definitely shower him with gifts as he had come from far away. Tenali Raman promised half of the gifts to the guard. He made the next guard the same promise to get in. When he got to the King, he ran and hugged him. Furious, the King ordered 50 lashes to Tenali Raman. He told the King that he had promised the guard half of his gift, so they should get half the lashes too. The impressed King gave Tenali Raman expensive clothes and made him his Court Jester.
Moral of the story: Greediness will get you in trouble.
Here are some of the best Tenali stories that you definitely have to read. They are:
- Happiness Now
- Saluting the Donkeys
- Tenali Rama and the Brinjal Curry
Tenali Raman stories are classics and you must have read or heard it at some point in your life. You can find Tenali Raman’s stories in English online, and in today’s print books.
We hope you enjoyed this interesting and thought-provoking kid’s stories. These stories make for great bedtime reads. It will teach your kids a moral, as well as have them laughing their way to sleep. For more interesting stories for kids and thought of the day quotes , follow Fabulously.in.
