Krishnadevaraya is remembered as a legendary ruler. But Srinivas Reddy’s Raya looks beyond the legend, tracing the contours of a life shaped by ambition, art, and a deeper vision of what it means to lead
Chinmayee Manjunath
History often turns people into monuments. Static. Stripped bare of everything that made them human.
In “Raya: Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagara” published by Juggernaut Books in 2020, Srinivas Reddy paints his protagonist as what he was - a literary, revolutionary king grappling with the complexities of ambition, faith, and power. Set against the backdrop of Vijayanagara’s golden age, Raya tells the story of a ruler who was as much a poet as a warrior. As deeply invested in building temples as in securing borders. And Reddy paints a compelling portrait of his inner life.
Through careful readings of inscriptions, chronicles, and Krishnadevaraya’s own poetry, the author crafts the story of a man driven by ideals yet tempered by pragmatism. A king who patronised the arts not just to adorn his court, but to articulate his vision of a thriving, pluralistic world. A man who understood that strength without imagination, or governance without compassion, was a shallow triumph.
Reddy’s prose is clear, measured, and quietly powerful. And his book is a meditation on the nature of leadership, the responsibilities of power, and the ways in which culture can sustain and outlast the kingdom that created it.
More than a biography, “Raya” is a reclamation, not only of a ruler too often reduced to textbook footnotes, but of an entire vision of Indian kingship rooted in knowledge, creativity, and care. What emerges is not just the story of an empire, but a reminder of the fragility of all human achievement, and the enduring grace of those who choose to lead with depth.
In reading “Raya”, we are also invited to reconsider what we demand of our own leaders. Whether power can still coexist with poetry, whether legacy is measured only in conquest, or in the worlds a ruler chooses to nurture.
Reddy’s deep love for language and history shines through on every page. His background as a translator of classical Indian poetry gives him a sensitivity that's rare. He understands that kings are not just warriors, but also dreamers and builders of worlds.
