Venmurasu

Venmurasu

Venmurasu - Mudharkanal
Author Jeyamohan
Original title Venmurasu
Illustrator Shanmugavel
Country India
Language Tamil
Genre Puranic Realism
Publisher Natrinai Pathippagam Kizhakku Pathippagam
Publication date
 2014
Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages 25000 (expected)

Venmurasu (Tamil: வெண்முரசு Veṇmuracu) is a Tamil novel by writer Jeyamohan. A modern renarration of the Indian classical epic Mahabharatha, it is Jeyamohan's most ambitious work to date, with a scope and scale that seeks to match the grandness of the epic itself. Jeyamohan started writing the work in January 2014 and has announced plans to write it every day over ten years. The overall volume is expected to cross 25,000 pages.[1]

Venmurasu is being written as a series of books, each one composed in a different style and genre. As of May 2016, nine books have been published online;[2] the tenth one is being serialized. The first eight novels have been published as books in Collectors and paperback versions.

Background

Jeyamohan had been an avid reader of the Mahabharathaha, the quintessential epic of India. In his childhood he had been fascinated by the Kathakali renderings of Mahabharatha stories, their expressive portrayals of characters like Duryodhan and the angst-ridden life of Karna making a deep impression on him. Far from being a simple tale of 'good vs evil', Mahabharatha opened up for him as a true classic with multi-dimensional characters, drama, emotion, and a deep meditation on truth, philosophy, ideals, fate and the universe itself.[3]

As he grew up and traveled the length and breadth of India, Jeyamohan saw and read the various adaptations of the Mahabharatha and its universal influence on the culture and language of India across all regions and languages. He delved deep into the work of Vyasa and followed the path of the epic as it was told and retold over the works of thousands of authors, singers and performers into the twentieth century. The epic grew with him and helped him chart the path of his life as a writer. The Bhagavad Gita had a deep influence on his worldview and he continued to explore its meanings under Guru Nitya Chaitanya Yati.[4]

In the late 1980s and 1990s, Jeyamohan wrote many short stories based on the Mahabharatha, including the highly praised "Thisaigalin Naduve" and "Padma Vyugam". He later wrote a series of essays on the Gita on his website. Jeyamohan also continued to build up on decades of personal research for his ongoing work on Asokavanam.

On the night of Christmas 2013, Jeyamohan was conversing with his children on the classic drama of Mahabharatha, and his daughter Chaitanya requested him to write it all himself. With just an outline in his mind and trusting his instinct, Jeyamohan decided to commence the immense project that will stretch over the next decade.

Style

Jeyamohan has described Venmurasu as a modern novel based on the Mahabharatha, and not just a retelling of the story in modern idiom. Venmurasu is guided by the storyline of the epic and the dynamics of the Indian Puranic tradition, but as a work of literature composed in the twenty-first century, it assumes its own form and aesthetics that place it in a modern context. Nested story lines, intertextuality and fantasy woven with deep archetypes and allegory provide a distinctly post-modern texture to the novel which Jeyamohan prefers to term as 'Puranic Realism'.[5][6]

Venmurasu approximately follows the Mahbharatha on a linear narrative, but the many episodes are distinctly non-linear. While the Mahabharatha is traditionally narrated as 18 Parvas, Venmurasu breaks it into a series of novels, each self-contained with a plot and storyline, but remaining inter-connected with each other. Stories that are mere bylines and footnotes in the traditional Mahabharatha assume giant proportions in Venmurasu, and become central to the plot development across generations. Over its course, Venmurasu taps into Vyasa's original work that was written four thousand years ago, the Srimad Bhagavata written two thousand years later, the Devi Bhagavata written another five hundred years later and a variety of other folk sources from India and abroad.[7]

In a nod to the great oral story-telling traditions of India, many of the stories in Venmurasu are narrated by Sūtas, the traveling bards. They carry the story across the length and breadth of the country and provide both embellishment and meaning to the dour palace intrigues of Asthinapuri. Through their words and trances, the characters assume mythical dimensions and find their place in the common dream of the author and the reader.

In each of its books, Venmurasu adopts a distinctive genre and style that is based on the storyline.[8] The imagery, symbolism and language varies as the plots sweep across the vastness of ancient India and follow multitudes of characters. It stitches together hundreds of myths and legends from the various Indian religions and traditions. But at its core, it retains the highest ideals and poetic vision of Vyasa, and the tremendous drama that makes it accessible to the common reader.[9]

Theme

While conventional Mahabharata narratives have reduced it to the proverbial battle between good and evil, Venmurasu presents a more multi-layered and complex re-narration. At the same time, it stays away from modern interpretations that focus narrowly on a few characters. As a modern epic, Venmurasu paints 'a canvas as big as time itself'.[10]

Within the innumerous folds of Mahabharatha's drama, Jeyamohan finds scope to explore and describe the grand philosophical narrative of Indian thought. In his own words, Venmurasu "is a classical work that possesses density and depth, but leaves enough space for discerning readers to fill with their imagination".[11]

Outline

Venmurasu is written as a series of books, each with its storyline and distinctive style.

Development and release

Jeyamohan started writing Venmurasu in serialized form on his website with an episode being released every day. The illustrators Shanmugavel and Manikandan added a painting for each episode for the first four books of the series.


Once each book was completed, it was published in book form in limited hardback Collector's editions and also as paperbacks. Limited numbers of pre-orders of the Collector's edition carried the author's personalized signature.

Natrinai Pathippagam, the Chennai-based publishing house, which had earlier brought out the collector's edition of Vishnupuram, published the series up to Prayaagai. Kizhakku Publications, the imprint of NHM, has published the series beginning from Venmugil Nagaram.

The Vishnupuram Ilakkiya Vattam held a major release event in Chennai on November 9, 2014 for the Venmurasu series of books. The event hosted luminaries of Tamil art world including Ashokamitran, Ilayaraja, Kamal Haasan, Prapanchan, Nanjil Nadan, P. A. Krishnan and felicitated exponents of the traditional folk art forms and kathaprasangis of Mahabharatha.[12]

Reception

Venmurasu has met with tremendous response among readers of Tamil literature across the world. While Jeyamohan himself attributes it to the enduring popularity of the Mahabharatha, critics have praised Venmurasu for blazing new trails in the Mahabharatha canon.[13]

Noted writers Indira Parthasarathy and Ashokamithran have praised Venmurasu for its intricate descriptions, poetic depth and classic dynamics. Writer and orator Marabinmaindan Muthiah has written a 7-part series of essays titled 'Vyasa Manam' introducing the finer aspects of Venmurasu. Filmmakers Mani Ratnam, Vasanthabalan, Mysskin and Seenu Ramasamy have expressed their appreciation of the lyrical beauty and visuals.[14][15] [16] Reader statistics for Jeyamohan's website jumped to more than fifty thousand daily, necessitating a move to cloud-based hosting to handle the extra demand.

Reader responses have been unprecedented in Indian literary history. More than 3000 reader letters to Jeyamohan have been published on a dedicated website, and they illustrate the variety and depth of reader experiences.[17] Reader groups have set up their own forums to discuss and debate Venmurasu themes and stories.[18]

References

  1. ↑ "At the feet of Vyasa". Jeyamohan. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  2. ↑ "Venmurasu - website". venmurasu.in. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  3. ↑ "Jeyamohan Interview, 12-July-2015". Youtube.com. Canada Multicultural Radio, 101.3 FM. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  4. ↑ "Jeyamohan Speech - 06-Jul-2015". Youtube.com. Columbus Tamil Sangam. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  5. ↑ "Venmurasu - Puranic Realism". Jeyamohan.in. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  6. ↑ "Jeyamohan's Venmurasu". India Today (November 2014).
  7. ↑ "Venmurasu Themes". Kungumam (November 2014).
  8. ↑ Thiruvattar, Sindhukumar. "Venmurasu development". Goodreads. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  9. ↑ "I am renarrating the Indian Culture". Tamil The Hindu. Deepavali Malar (October 2014).
  10. ↑ ""By the Light of Mahabharata"- Interview". Dinamani. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  11. ↑ C, Saravanakarthikeyan. "Jeyamohan Interview- Career". tamilmagazine.net. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  12. ↑ "Venmurasu event". Kaviyam.in. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  13. ↑ "Venmurasu: A Sublime literary masterpiece". Swarajyamag.com. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  14. ↑ "Film Director Vasanthabalan on Venmurasu". youtube.com. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  15. ↑ "Kamal Hassan, Ilayaraja and Jeyamohan - Venmurasu vizha". youtube.com. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  16. ↑ "Vyasa Manam". Marabinmaindan.com. Marabinmaindan Muthiah. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  17. ↑ "Venmurasu Readers letters". Venmurasu Discussions. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  18. ↑ "Venmurasu Readers Forum". Retrieved 9 June 2016.
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