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1978 novel by Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai
This article is about the Malayalam novel. For the city in Senegal, see
Kayar, Senegal
.
Kayar
(
transl.
Coir
) is a 1978
Malayalam
epic
novel written by
Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai
. Widely considered one of the most seminal works in
Malayalam literature
,
[1]
[2]
Kayar
received many major literary awards, including the
Vayalar Award
.
[3]
Plot summary
[
edit
]
Set in
Kuttanad
, the novel traces the evolution of the central
Travancore
society from the early 19th century to the mid-twentieth century. It covers more than two centuries of Kerala life, encompassing six generations of characters. The historic transformation of man's relationship with land, as also between man and man, men and women and even man and God, forms the staple theme of
Kayar
.
Background
[
edit
]
The idea of a novel which contains the vignettes of social life in Kerala stayed in the author's mind for many years. "Two hundred and fifty years of Kerala life flowed past my mind's eye. But I needed a form. I could find no help from the Western classics," Thakazhi reminisces. For years he carried the "germ" inside his head. One night, as he lay sleepless in bed, the
Mahabharata
epic with its episodic structure drifted into his mind as a possibility. The next day he started work on Kayar. It took him three years to complete the book.
[4]
Translations
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edit
]
Adaptations
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edit
]
Awards
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]
References
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]
External links
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1970s
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1980s
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