Mallinātha Sūri was a critic, known for his commentaries on the five mahakavyas (great compositions) of Sanskrit. During his times, he is said to have received the titles of Mahamahopadhyaya and Vyakhyana Chakravarti. He lived during the reigns of Rachakonda king Singabhupala and Vijayanagara king Deva Raya I. Based on the evidence from inscriptions, it is estimated that he lived between 1350-1450 CE.
Early life Mallinātha was born in a Telugu Brahmin family of the Kamakayanasa gotra with the surname Kolachala, Kolachela, Kolichala or Kolichelama.Mallinātha By P. G. Lalye, p. 13 The village Kolichelama (currently known as Kolchāram) is near Medak, a village and mandal in the Medak District of Telangana. When Kākatīya rule ended, the scholars of the Kolachelama family migrated to Rāchakonḍa, the capital of Singabhūpāla. From the colophons of the Sanjīvani, it is known that Singabhūpāla honoured Mallinātha with the title of Mahāmahopādhyāya, and Mallinātha's younger son with the title of Mahopādhyāya. He had two sons, namely Peddibhatta and Kumaraswamin. Kolachalam Srinivasa Rao (1854-1919), a Telugu scholar of theatre, was a descendant of Mallinātha. Vinay Chandra Suri, perhaps a descendant of Mallinātha, wrote the Mallinātha Charita kavya, a biography of Mallinātha in verse.
Works Mallinātha is well known as a commentator who has written glosses on the Classical epics of the Sanskrit canon, besides his commentaries on Śāstric works. His Sanjivani commentary on Meghasandesa is the most popular one.Meghasandeśa: an assessment from the South, p. 24 He is also known as a poet, a fact which is rather unknown, though the names of his creative compositions are known to the scholars of Sanskrit literature.
Commentaries Source:
The following is the list of his commentaries on the Classical Epics of Sanskrit: Sañjīvinī - Commentary on Kālidāsa's Raghuvaṃśa, Kumārasambhava and Meghadūta Ghaṇṭāpatha - Commentary on Bhāravi's Kirātārjunīya Sarvāṅkaṣa - Commentary on Māgha's Śiśupālavadha Jīvātu - Commentary on Śrīharṣa's Naiṣadhīyacarita Sarvapathīnā - Commentary on Bhaṭṭikāvya The following is the list of his commentaries on Śāstric works: Tarala - commentary on Vidyādhara's Ekāvalī - alaṃkāra śāstra Niṣkaṇṭakā - commentary on Varadarāja's Tārkikarakṣā ṭīkā Sushil Kumar De notes that Mallinātha's commentary on Meghaduta was the most well known commentary.
Creative works Raghuvīracaritā Vaiśyavamśa Sudhākara Udāra Kāvya Interestingly, in the Marathi Language, there is a word 'Mallinathi', which means 'a long monologue' spoken by somebody. For example, if a Mr. X says a Mr. Y is doing a "Mallinathi", it means that Mr. Y has been speaking for far too long.
References
Bibliography Mallināthamanīṣā: a collection of papers presented at the Seminar on Mallinatha, edited by P. G. Lalye, Published 1981, Dept. of Sanskrit, Osmania University Mallinātha by P. G. Lalye, Sahitya Akademi Mallinātha's Ghaṇṭāpatha on the Kirātārjunīya I-VI: Part one: Introduction, Translation and Notes by Roodbergen JAF, Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1984 [ thehindu.com]