Smarakasilakal - Revision history

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			{{Short description\|1977 novel by Punathil Kunjabdulla}}
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	{{Use Indian English\|date=September 2018}}		{{Use Indian English\|date=September 2018}}
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	'''''~~Smarakasilaka~~''''' is a [[Malayalam]] novel written by [[Punathil Kunjabdulla]] in 1977. The story of the novel is woven around a mosque and its surroundings. The key figure is Khan Bahadur Pookkoya Thangal of the rich Arakkal family whose character is a rare mixture of dignity, benevolence and insatiable lust.		'''''Smarakasilakal''''' is a [[Malayalam]] novel written by [[Punathil Kunjabdulla]] in 1977. The story of the novel is woven around a mosque and its surroundings. The key figure is Khan Bahadur Pookkoya Thangal of the rich Arakkal family whose character is a rare mixture of dignity, benevolence and insatiable lust.

	''Smarakasilakal'' is widely regarded as the author's masterpiece. Punathil said in an interview that it is his only novel and everything else that he has written subsequently is a repetition of it with some changes.<ref>{{cite news		''Smarakasilakal'' is widely regarded as the author's masterpiece. Punathil said in an interview that it is his only novel and everything else that he has written subsequently is a repetition of it with some changes.<ref>{{cite news
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	}}</ref> The novel won the [[Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award]] in 1978 and [[Sahitya Akademi Award]] in 1980. As of February 2013, more than 65,000 copies of the novel have been sold.<ref>{{cite web		}}</ref> The novel won the [[Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award]] in 1978 and [[Sahitya Akademi Award]] in 1980. As of February 2013, more than 65,000 copies of the novel have been sold.<ref>{{cite web
	\|url=http://www.dcbooks.com/smarakasilakal-19th-impression-released.html		\|url=http://www.dcbooks.com/smarakasilakal-19th-impression-released.html
	\|title= കാലത്തെ അതിജീവിച്ച് ~~‘സ്മാരക ശിലകള്‍’~~		\|title= കാലത്തെ അതിജീവിച്ച് 'സ്മാരക ശിലകള്‍'
	\|trans-title=Smarakasilakal: A memorial stone in Malayalam literature		\|trans-title=Smarakasilakal: A memorial stone in Malayalam literature
	\|language= ml		\|language= ml
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	==Background==		==Background==
	In his autobiography ''Nashtajathakam'', Kunjabdulla recalls that the seeds of ''Smarakasilakal'' were sown at a screening of [[Satyajit Ray]]'s ''[[Pather Panchali]]'' in [[Aligarh]]. The novel was conceived on a large canvas and developed from the images he had formed of his hometown and its people as a child in pre-independent Malabar. Most of the characters in this novel were real-life people he knew from his hometown.<ref name=Scroll>Anand Kochukudy (29 October 2017). [https://scroll.in/article/855767/both-life-and-literature-were-unconventional-for-malayalam-writer-punathil-kunjabdulla-1940-2017 "Both life and literature were unconventional for Malayalam writer Punathil Kunjabdulla (~~1940-2017~~)"]. [[Scroll.in]]. Retrieved 29 October 2017.</ref>		In his autobiography ''Nashtajathakam'', Kunjabdulla recalls that the seeds of ''Smarakasilakal'' were sown at a screening of [[Satyajit Ray]]'s ''[[Pather Panchali]]'' in [[Aligarh]]. The novel was conceived on a large canvas and developed from the images he had formed of his hometown and its people as a child in pre-independent Malabar. Most of the characters in this novel were real-life people he knew from his hometown.<ref name=Scroll>Anand Kochukudy (29 October 2017). [https://scroll.in/article/855767/both-life-and-literature-were-unconventional-for-malayalam-writer-punathil-kunjabdulla-1940-2017 "Both life and literature were unconventional for Malayalam writer Punathil Kunjabdulla (1940–2017)"]. [[Scroll.in]]. Retrieved 29 October 2017.</ref>

	==Plot summary==		==Plot summary==
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	==Translations==		==Translations==
	* ''Memorial Stones'' (English, Elzy Tharamangalam, [[Sahitya Akademi]], 2003)<ref>{{cite book		* ''Memorial Stones'' (English, Elzy Tharamangalam, [[Sahitya Akademi]], 2003)<ref>{{cite book
	\|url=https://books.google.com/?id=gzIWSQ8gBRUC		\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gzIWSQ8gBRUC
	\|publisher=[[Sahitya Akademi]]		\|publisher=[[Sahitya Akademi]]
	\|year=2009		\|year=2009
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	* ''Smaraka Silalu'' (స్మారక శిలలు) ([[Telugu language\|Telugu]], Nalimela Bhaskar, [[Sahitya Akademi]], 2010)<ref name="Smaraka Silalu">{{cite news		* ''Smaraka Silalu'' (స్మారక శిలలు) ([[Telugu language\|Telugu]], Nalimela Bhaskar, [[Sahitya Akademi]], 2010)<ref name="Smaraka Silalu">{{cite news
	\|url=http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/hyderabad/Sahitya-Puraskar-for-Nalimela-Bhaskar/2014/03/12/article2104316.ece#.Uy7O4vmSySo		\|url=http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/hyderabad/Sahitya-Puraskar-for-Nalimela-Bhaskar/2014/03/12/article2104316.ece#.Uy7O4vmSySo
			\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140323151602/http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/hyderabad/Sahitya-Puraskar-for-Nalimela-Bhaskar/2014/03/12/article2104316.ece#.Uy7O4vmSySo
			\|url-status=dead
			\|archive-date=23 March 2014
	\|title= Sahitya Puraskar for Nalimela Bhaskar		\|title= Sahitya Puraskar for Nalimela Bhaskar
	\|newspaper=[[The New Indian Express]]		\|newspaper=[[The New Indian Express]]
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	}}</ref> The film is an entire re-depiction of the novel. Sukumaran Nair told in an interview: "I firmly believe that it is not the work of a director to literally translate a fiction into a film. Fiction should be modified to suit the entirely different medium of cinema."<ref>{{cite news		}}</ref> The film is an entire re-depiction of the novel. Sukumaran Nair told in an interview: "I firmly believe that it is not the work of a director to literally translate a fiction into a film. Fiction should be modified to suit the entirely different medium of cinema."<ref>{{cite news
	\|url=http://www.mathrubhumi.com/english/news.php?id=23722		\|url=http://www.mathrubhumi.com/english/news.php?id=23722
	\|title=`Raamanam:' a re-depiction of Kunhabdulla's famous novel		\|title='Raamanam:' a re-depiction of Kunhabdulla's famous novel
	\|newspaper=[[Mathrubhumi]]		\|newspaper=[[Mathrubhumi]]
	\|agency=[[Press Trust of India]]		\|agency=[[Press Trust of India]]
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	{{Malayalam Literature \|state=collapsed}}		{{Malayalam Literature \|state=collapsed}}

	~~[[Category:1977 novels]]~~
	[[Category:Malayalam novels]]		[[Category:Malayalam novels]]
	[[Category:Indian novels adapted into films]]		[[Category:Indian novels adapted into films]]
	[[Category:Novels set in Kerala]]		[[Category:Novels set in Kerala]]
	[[Category:Sahitya Akademi ~~Award-winning~~ works]]		[[Category:Sahitya Akademi Award–winning works]]
	[[Category:Kerala Sahitya Akademi ~~Award-winning~~ works]]		[[Category:Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award–winning works]]
	[[Category:DC Books books]]		[[Category:DC Books books]]
	[[Category:1977 Indian novels]]		[[Category:1977 Indian novels]]

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{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2018}}
{{Infobox book

| name = Smarakasilakal<br>(Memorial Stones)
| image = Smarakasilakal.jpg
| image_size =
| caption =
| alt =
| author = [[Punathil Kunjabdulla]]
| title_orig = സ്മാരകശിലകൾ
| translator = Elzy Tharamangalam
| illustrator = [[Artist Namboothiri]]
| cover_artist = Zainul Abid
| country = India
| language = [[Malayalam]]
| series =
| subject =
| genre = Novel
| publisher = [[DC Books]]
| publisher2 =
| pub_date = {{Start date|1977|3||}}
| english_pub_date = 2003
| media_type = Print
| pages = 238
| awards = 1978: [[Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award]]<br/>1980: [[Sahitya Akademi Award|Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award]]
| isbn = 8-171-30181-9
| oclc =
| dewey =
| congress =
| preceded_by =
| preceded_by_quotation_marks =
| followed_by =
| followed_by_quotation_marks =
| wikisource =
}}
'''''Smarakasilaka''''' is a [[Malayalam]] novel written by [[Punathil Kunjabdulla]] in 1977. The story of the novel is woven around a mosque and its surroundings. The key figure is Khan Bahadur Pookkoya Thangal of the rich Arakkal family whose character is a rare mixture of dignity, benevolence and insatiable lust.

''Smarakasilakal'' is widely regarded as the author's masterpiece. Punathil said in an interview that it is his only novel and everything else that he has written subsequently is a repetition of it with some changes.<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://www.hindu.com/br/2003/09/23/stories/2003092300030203.htm
|title= Life after death
|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]
|author=B. R. P. Bhaskar
|date=23 September 2003
|access-date=28 June 2013
}}</ref> The novel won the [[Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award]] in 1978 and [[Sahitya Akademi Award]] in 1980. As of February 2013, more than 65,000 copies of the novel have been sold.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.dcbooks.com/smarakasilakal-19th-impression-released.html
|title= കാലത്തെ അതിജീവിച്ച് ‘സ്മാരക ശിലകള്‍’
|trans-title=Smarakasilakal: A memorial stone in Malayalam literature
|language= ml
|publisher=[[DC Books]]
|date=27 February 2013
|access-date=28 June 2013
}}</ref>

==Background==
In his autobiography ''Nashtajathakam'', Kunjabdulla recalls that the seeds of ''Smarakasilakal'' were sown at a screening of [[Satyajit Ray]]'s ''[[Pather Panchali]]'' in [[Aligarh]]. The novel was conceived on a large canvas and developed from the images he had formed of his hometown and its people as a child in pre-independent Malabar. Most of the characters in this novel were real-life people he knew from his hometown.<ref name=Scroll>Anand Kochukudy (29 October 2017). [https://scroll.in/article/855767/both-life-and-literature-were-unconventional-for-malayalam-writer-punathil-kunjabdulla-1940-2017 "Both life and literature were unconventional for Malayalam writer Punathil Kunjabdulla (1940-2017)"]. [[Scroll.in]]. Retrieved 29 October 2017.</ref>

==Plot summary==
''Smarakasilakal'' is set in a predominantly Muslim [[North Malabar]] village. It is the story of a feudal lord Khan Bahadur Pookkoya Thangal of the rich Arakkal family who could build a world of his own in his village. The mosque and its cemetery weave a background of traditions and legends for the tale. Every character reflects some aspect of the social set up, at the same time lives as a person of individuality. Thangal stands head and shoulders above every other character with his unbounded generosity and insatiable lust. The empire built by this man crumbles as he is killed by one of the young men whose wives he has ravished. The steward of the house grows into a tyrant. Thangal's daughter Pookunjeebi is sacrificed at the altar of wealth; his adopted son Kunjali burning for justice seems to place his trust on revolution as the only remedy for the ills that afflict society.

==Main characters==
* Khan Bahadur Pookkoya Thangal - a feudal lord
* Kunjali - Thangal's adopted son
* Pookunjeebi - Thangal's daughter
* Attabeevi - Thangal's wife
* Kureishi Pathu - the chief maidservant
* Eramullan - muezzin in the mosque
* Bukhari - the security guard
* Buddhan Adraman - the hostler
* Pattalam Ibrayi - the caretaker of Arakkal family after Thangal's demise

==Translations==
* ''Memorial Stones'' (English, Elzy Tharamangalam, [[Sahitya Akademi]], 2003)<ref>{{cite book
|url=https://books.google.com/?id=gzIWSQ8gBRUC
|publisher=[[Sahitya Akademi]]
|year=2009
|title=Memorial Stones
|isbn=9788126010745
}}</ref>
* ''Meesan Karkal'' (மீஸான் கற்கள்) ([[Tamil language|Tamil]], Kulachal M.Yusaf, Kalachuvadu Pathipagam, 2004)<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=2004122101440200.htm&date=2004/12/21/&prd=thlf&
|title= The journalist in Bharati
|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]
|author=M. Allirajan
|date=21 December 2004
|access-date=28 June 2013
}}</ref>
* ''Smaraka Silalu'' (స్మారక శిలలు) ([[Telugu language|Telugu]], Nalimela Bhaskar, [[Sahitya Akademi]], 2010)<ref name="Smaraka Silalu">{{cite news
|url=http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/hyderabad/Sahitya-Puraskar-for-Nalimela-Bhaskar/2014/03/12/article2104316.ece#.Uy7O4vmSySo
|title= Sahitya Puraskar for Nalimela Bhaskar
|newspaper=[[The New Indian Express]]
|date=12 March 2014
|access-date=23 March 2014
}}</ref>

==Adaptations==
{{Main|Raamanam}}
In 2009, a [[Raamanam|film adaptation]] of the novel was released, starring [[Jagathy Sreekumar]] as Pookkoya Thangal, and directed by M. P. Sukumaran Nair.<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://www.hindu.com/fr/2009/10/09/stories/2009100950970200.htm
|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130629092335/http://www.hindu.com/fr/2009/10/09/stories/2009100950970200.htm
|url-status=dead
|archive-date=29 June 2013
|title= Reinterpreting history on the screen
|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]
|author=C. S. Venkiteswaran
|author-link=C. S. Venkiteswaran
|date=9 October 2009
|access-date=28 June 2013
}}</ref><ref>{{cite news
|url=http://www.hindu.com/fr/2009/05/22/stories/2009052251180200.htm
|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130629092312/http://www.hindu.com/fr/2009/05/22/stories/2009052251180200.htm
|url-status=dead
|archive-date=29 June 2013
|title= Beyond religions
|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]
|date=22 May 2009
|access-date=28 June 2013
}}</ref> The film is an entire re-depiction of the novel. Sukumaran Nair told in an interview: "I firmly believe that it is not the work of a director to literally translate a fiction into a film. Fiction should be modified to suit the entirely different medium of cinema."<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://www.mathrubhumi.com/english/news.php?id=23722
|title=`Raamanam:' a re-depiction of Kunhabdulla's famous novel
|newspaper=[[Mathrubhumi]]
|agency=[[Press Trust of India]]
|date=21 September 2009
|access-date=28 June 2013
}}</ref> The film was critically acclaimed and won two [[Kerala State Film Awards]]: [[Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Film|Second Best Film]] and [[Kerala State Film Award (Special Jury Award)|Special Jury Award]] (Jagathy Sreekumar).

Also, [[All India Radio]] broadcast a play based on the novel through the programme ''Arangu'' in 2007.<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://www.hindu.com/2007/01/01/stories/2007010100420200.htm
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930230012/http://www.hindu.com/2007/01/01/stories/2007010100420200.htm
|url-status=dead
|archive-date=30 September 2007
|title= AIR to broadcast plays based on novels
|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]
|date=1 January 2007
|access-date=28 June 2013
}}</ref>

==Awards==
* 1978: [[Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award]] (Novel)<ref>[http://www.keralasahityaakademi.org/sp/Writers/ksa/Awards/Mal_Awards.htm "Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award"] (in Malayalam). [[Kerala Sahitya Akademi]]. Retrieved 28 June 2013.</ref><ref>[http://kerala.gov.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3065&Itemid=2379 "Literary Awards"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120618062155/http://kerala.gov.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3065&Itemid=2379 |date=2012-06-18 }}. [[Government of Kerala]]. Retrieved 28 June 2013.</ref>
* 1980: [[List of Sahitya Akademi Award winners for Malayalam|Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.prd.kerala.gov.in/awards.htm|title=Kendra Sahitya Academy Awards (Malayalam)|publisher=Public Relations Department, [[Government of Kerala]]|access-date=28 June 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070524212356/http://www.prd.kerala.gov.in/awards.htm|archive-date=24 May 2007}}</ref>
* 2013: Kendra Sahitya Puraskar for the Telugu translation by Nalimela Bhaskar titled ''Smaraka Silalu''<ref name="Smaraka Silalu"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://onlinestore.dcbooks.com/books/smaraka-silakal ''Smarakasilakal''] at [[DC Books]] Official website
* [http://keralaliterature.com/book.php?bukid=94 ''Smarakasilakal''] at Keralaliterature.com

{{Malayalam Literature |state=collapsed}}

[[Category:1977 novels]]
[[Category:Malayalam novels]]
[[Category:Indian novels adapted into films]]
[[Category:Novels set in Kerala]]
[[Category:Sahitya Akademi Award-winning works]]
[[Category:Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award-winning works]]
[[Category:DC Books books]]
[[Category:1977 Indian novels]]