What is "ratnakaravarni"

Ratnakaravarni was a 16th-century Kannada poet and writer. He is considered to be one of the trailblazers in the native shatpadi (hexa-metre, six line verse) and sangatya (composition meant to be sung to the accompaniment of musical instrument) metric tradition that was popularised in Kannada literature during the rule of the Vijayanagara empire in modern Karnataka. His most famous writing is the story of the Jain prince Bharata and is called the Bharatesha Vaibhava (or Bharatesvara Charite). Known to be a troubled and restless person, tradition has it that Ratnakaravarni converted from his religion Jainism to Veerashaivism when a less-meritorious poet superseded him. During this brief time, he wrote the Basavapurana, a biography of the 12th century social reformer Basavanna. Later, he returned to the Jain religion and penned classics in the shataka metre (string of 100 verses). His contributions to Kannada literature are considered trend setting.