Birth and Residence: Palakurthi village, Palakurthi Mandal, Jangaon District, Telangana. He lived approximately between 1160 CE and 1240 CE.

Divine Parentage: In his first work Anubhavasara and in Basava Purana, Somanatha declares that his father was Lord Siva and his mother Parvati – a spiritual claim of divine grace. His earthly teachers included Ivatuuri Somana (early guru), Kattakuri Potidevara (mentioned in Basava Purana Avatarika), and Karasthali Viswanatha (his literary guru). He was also a disciple of the grandson of Balideva Vemaradhya.

The Basava Purana is Somanatha’s magnum opus, composed in Dwipada (couplet) metre in Janu Telugu. It narrates the life, miracles, and teachings of Basaveswara, the 12th‑century social reformer and founder of Lingayatism. The work is a sacred text for Veerashaivas and offers a realistic portrayal of the Anubhava Mantapa – the hall of spiritual experience where Basaveswara gathered saints and commoners without caste distinction. Unlike the ornate Sanskritised kavya tradition, Somanatha’s language is direct, earthy, and powerful – a deliberate aesthetic choice that made spiritual ideas accessible to peasants and artisans.

The Panditaradhya Charitamu is a biography of the Shaiva preacher Mallikarjuna Panditaradhya, providing invaluable insights into the religious milieu of the Kakatiya period. Significantly, Somanatha’s writings contain detailed accounts of Virasaiva diksha (initiation ceremonies). These rituals involved the use of five metallic vessels representing the five faces of Shiva and the five major Acharyas: Visvaradhya, Revanasiddha, Marulasiddha, Ekorama, and Panditaradhya. Such documentation makes his work a primary source for understanding Veerashaiva liturgy and theology.

His other works include Anubhavasara (a philosophical treatise on spiritual experience) and several compositions in Kannada and Sanskrit.

Reference: A Corpus of Inscriptions in the Telangana Districts of Andhra Pradesh, Part III, 1956, pp. 66–68. Found on a hill about 4 miles from Munnanur village (Mahabubnagar district), on the road to Accampeta. The hill is generally referred to as "Prataparudra's fort". The inscription, in Telugu prose and Sanskrit verse, records the establishment of a forest (by planting trees) for the merit of his own son by Somana, son of Palakurthi Mallinaya. This was done in the presence of the deity Gupta-Mallikharjunasvami, in Saka 1347, Visvavasu, Kartika, ba., 2, Monday. The place is referred to as Nilakantha-punya-ksetra. A concluding Sanskrit verse states that by planting one asvattha tree, one banyan tree, etc., a person escapes going to hell.

Significance: This record directly attests to the continued religious and charitable activities of the Palakurthi family nearly two centuries after Somanatha. The name "Somana" (a variant of Somanatha) and the patronymic "Palakurthi Mallinaya" confirm the family’s enduring association with Shaiva institutions and forest/heritage conservation.

Another inscription from Inugurthy (within a hill fort known as Pratapa Rudra’s fort), also dated 1425 CE, mentions a certain Somana, son of Palakurthi Mallinayaka, who established a grove of trees near the temple of Gupta Mallikarjuna in the “Mahesvara Nilakantha kshetra”. This parallels the Munnanur record and reinforces the family's active patronage across different locations.

Location & Significance: The association of the Palakurthi family with the Warangal and Inugurthy regions shows that the area remained a vibrant centre of Shaivite activity through the post‑Kakatiya period. These inscriptions provide tangible proof of the Palakurthi family’s continued involvement in temple-related endowments, forest planting, and religious merit-making, connecting the poet’s lineage to the 15th century.

After a life of literary and spiritual labour, Somanatha returned to Palakurthi. Following his death, his disciples and followers constructed a samadhi (memorial tomb) and built a temple over it. Inside the temple, a linga and a nandi (the bull, Shiva’s vehicle) are installed. This linga is reverently called the Somanatha Linga. Devotees, especially from the Veerashaiva and Lingayat communities, visit the shrine to offer prayers, seeking the poet‑saint’s blessings for literary talent, devotion, and liberation.

The temple stands as a rare instance where a poet is directly venerated as a saint with a dedicated shrine. The annual punyatithi (death anniversary) is observed with traditional rituals and recitations of the Basava Purana.

With the renewed focus on Telangana’s regional identity, Somanatha has been reclaimed as a pioneer of the Telangana dialect’s literary dignity. His choice of Janu Telugu – the raw, unadorned language of the common people – resonates deeply with contemporary movements for linguistic democracy. Scholars now place him alongside the great medieval poets who challenged elitist norms, and his samadhi at Palakurthi is increasingly recognised as a heritage site. The 15th‑century inscriptions of his descendants planting forests near Gupta-Mallikarjuna temples further highlight the family’s long-standing commitment to Shaiva religious ecology.