Atukuri Molla

Atukuri Molla (1440–1530), known as Kummari Molla after her potter caste, was one of the earliest women to write poetry in Telugu. The daughter of a potter of Gopavaram near Nellore, she was named Molla, meaning jasmine.

She claimed Shiva as her guru and took the poet Pothana as her model. She rendered the Sanskrit Ramayana into plain Telugu as the Molla Ramayanam and recited it at the court of Krishnadevaraya.

Refusing to dedicate the work to any king, she entrusted it to temple authorities in her home village. She then went to Srisailam, where she practiced austerities and taught spiritual seekers before her death around 1530.