Parva (novel)

Infobox Book
| name = Parva


image_caption =
author = S L Bhyrappa
country = India
language = Kannada
genre = Novel
publisher = Sahitya Bhandara, Bangalore
release_date = 1979
media_type = Print (Paperback & Hardback)
preceded_by = Anweshane (1976)
followed_by = Nele (1983)
isbn = ISBN 81-7201-659-X

"Parva" ( _kn. ಪರ್ವ) is a Kannada language novel written by S L Bhyrappa based on the Sanskrit epic, Mahabharata. It is a non-mythological retelling of the "Mahabharata" and is widely acclaimed as a modern classic. ["Bhitti," "Sahitya Bhandara," Bangalore] The story of the "Mahabharata" in "Parva" is narrated in the form of personal reflections of some of the principal characters of the epic. "Parva" is unique in terms of the complete absence of any episode that has the element of divine intervention found in the original.

"Parva" remains one of Bhyrappa's widely-debated and popular works.

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Background

In an essay titled "Parva Baredaddu" ("How I wrote Parva") [Essay titled, "Parva Baredaddu" ("How I wrote Parva") "Naaneke Bareyuttene," "Sahitya Bhandara," Bangalore] , Bhyrappa provides detailed information about how he wrote "Parva."

Bhyrappa's friend, Dr. A Narayanappa initially urged the author to write his conception of the Mahabharata as a novel. The author recounts that he finalized the decision to write "Parva" during a tour in the Garhwal region of the Himalayas. He stayed at a village where polyandry was practiced. Further research revealed that the practice persisted in that region from the time of Draupadi. Bhyrappa recounts how this experience led him to briefly visit several places in North India mentioned in the original "Mahabharata."

Bhyrappa subsequently moved to a new job in Mysore. In "Parva Baredaddu," he narrates how the novel "stayed in his mind," and "forced" him to apply for unpaid vacation from work to begin research. His research covered multiple perspectives including the historicity of the "Mahabharata", geography of India (or Bharatavarsha as it was then known), anthropological aspects of the time, techniques of warfare, and philosophical concepts. Bhyrappa visited most of the places listed in the epic over a period of more than a year. He visited the Yadava capital Dwaraka (now believed to be submerged ["The Lost City of Dvaraka," S.R. Rao, Aditya Prakashan, India, 1999, ISBN:8186471480] ), Lothal, Rajasthan, Rajagriha, Kurukshetra, Old Delhi, and parts of the Panchala territory.

Translations

Parva has been translated into the following major Indian languages; Bengali, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu apart from English. Parva was translated to Tamil as "Paruvam" and to Telugu as "Parva", both of which went on to win the Sahitya Akademi's translation award in the year 2004.cite web|url=http://www.hindu.com/2005/02/16/stories/2005021608321100.htm|work=Online Edition of The Hindu, dated 2005-02-16|title= Books for Translation Prize get Sahitya Akademi's nod|accessdate=2007-10-31] The book was translated to English by K. Raghavendra Rao and named as "Parva(A tale of war, peace, love, death, god and man)".

toryline

The novel narrates the story of the Hindu epic "Mahabharata" mostly using monologue as a literary technique. Several principal characters found in the original "Mahabharata" reminisce almost their entire lives. Both the setting and the context for the reminiscence is the onset of the "Kurukshetra War".

cite web|url=http://www.hindu.com/2007/05/27/stories/2007052708680400.htm|work=Online Edition of The Hindu, dated 2007-05-27|title= NTR award to be given away tomorrow|accessdate=2007-10-31] The novel seeks to reconstruct the disintegration of a vast community involving the Kauravas and Pandavas.Various authors, Sahitya Akademi (1987), p430]

Awards

"Parva" has won the Deraje award. ["Bhyrappa to receive Deraje Award", http://www.hindu.com/2007/02/10/stories/2007021002030200.htm, "The Hindu"]

Notes

References

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