Lions Of Palanadu (Palanati Virula Charitra) by Madhu Latha S
My take on the book:
When river Krishna transformed into its beast mode and flooded the tribal settlement near the village Devarapalle, the residents were forced to occupy the nearby hillock to save themselves. The aftermath left them homeless with many even losing their lives to the deadly flood, but the Brahmins of the village objected to the Panchamulu taking shelter on the hillock.
When the news of this disaster reached King Nalagama, Brahma Naidu — the King’s minister, advisor, mentor — immediately travelled to the flood struck area and took the homeless people to the nearby temples for temporary shelter. However, Brahma Naidu’s move was met with resistance as the upper caste people disagreed with the lower caste tribals entering their temples. Brahma Naidu believed in equality of all humans irrespective of their caste or birth and introduced Chapa Kudu (communal dining) and encouraged marriage between the upper and lower castes.
Enraged by Brahma Naidu’s ways, Gopamantri asked Nagamma Devi for his Guru Dakshina — to destroy Brahma Naidu. Nagamma who had prior history that involved her husband and father being executed by the earlier King on Brahma Naidu’s advice, has been waiting for the right opportunity to avenge Brahma Naidu for her personal losses. As Nagamma smartly created differences between King Nalagama and his stepbrothers, will she succeed in her mission to destroy Brahma Naidu forms the rest of the story.
This is first book in the two-part series, hence this part majorly establishes the important characters, the conflicts between them and the reasons behind these. This is the history of Palanadu region and its Kings from the twelfth century, based on Palanati Virula Katha, originally written by Srinatha Kavi. The story begins with the flooding of river Krishna and Brahma Naidu taking Kannamaneedu under his supervision, till this part ending with Brahma Naidu meeting the young warrior Bala Chandra, enroute to Kurnool.
The story highlights the caste discrimination of those times and how the radical thoughts of Brahma Naidu was met with extreme reactions from everyone around him. The politics of those times, how advisors like Brahma Naidu and Nagamma yielded strong hold on the Kings and how the powerful Kings were influenced by such advisors and mentors are well narrated by the author. How Mahabharata revolved around dice game and mistakes done betting on it, this story showcases how cock fighting influenced major events between the Palanadu Kings. The similarity involving brothers and their conflicts for the throne also made this story popular as Andhra-Mahabharata.
While Nagamma has underlying negative shades, her ability to influence everyone’s decisions and her political acumen at times when a widow is not expected to play such an important role in the country’s administration, needs to be admired. Brahma Naidu on the other hand balances aggression with patience. The story has a very fast pace, especially in the second half as it is filled with major twists and the book is a major page turner.
However, the author does not mention the time in history when this story happened; the geography of the places where the story happens also should have been better explained by the author, as those reading about this part of India may find it difficult to understand the significance. Historical fiction is a difficult genre to satisfy readers, and the author has done a fab job in narrating a gripping story.
My rating:
4/5.