Kshetrayya

Kshetrayya (–1680) was a prolific Telugu poet. He lived in the area of what is now Andhra Pradesh in South India. He composed a number of padams and keertanas, the prevalent formats of his time. He is credited with more than 4000 compositions, although only a handful have survived. He composed his songs on his favourite Hinduism deity Krishna (Gopala) in Telugu.

He was born to a Telugu Brahmin family in a village called Movva (or Muvva), in Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh. His parents named him Varadayya. Because of his habit of traveling from one place to another singing his songs at temples, he came to be called Kshetragna or Kshetrayya (one who travels). He married a Devadasi named Mohanangi. He learned his music from guru VenkaTamakhi (author of 72-melakartha scheme).