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Kavi Muddana whose real name was Nandalike Lakshminarayaniah (1870-1901)
is considered as the Harbinger of Renaissance in modern Kannada Literature. He is called the Dawn Heralding Cock of Modern Kannada Literature by descerning critics. He heralded the new era of prose by claiming that poetic genre was dead and 'prose was dear to human heart' in this prose epic Shree Ramashvamedham.
He was also a Yakshagana poet, i.e., one who composes plays in poetry for the typical theatre called Yakshagana of coastal Karnatak. His works RathnavathiKalyanaand and Kumara Vijay are considered unparalleled Yakshagana poetic works. Apart from these works Muddana had edited and composed traditional songs to be sung on differant occasions. He is said to have half finished a modern novel and was compiling an ancyclopdia at the time of his death. His relatives who belived that his death was due to his excessive studies, angrily burnt all his unpublished manuscripts after his death. Neverthless whatever remains today is enough to place Muddana as one of the all time greats of Kannada literature.
Muddana's most famous literary works include Ratnavati Kalyana (Yakshagana play), Kumara Vijaya (Yakshagana play), Sri Rama Pattabhishekam (Poetry in Vardhaka Shatpadi format), Adbhuta Ramayana (GadyaKavya), Sri Ramashwedham (GadyaKavya).
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