Venmurasu


Venmurasu 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.
Venmurasu is being written as a series of books, each one composed in a different style and genre. As of August 2019, twenty two books have been published online The novels have been published as Collectors edition and Paperback editions.

Background

Jeyamohan had been an avid reader of the Mahabharatha, 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.
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.
In the late 1980s and 1990s, Jeyamohan wrote many short stories based on the Mahabharatha, including the 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. For each novel, new chapter is posted daily on his website.

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 storylines, 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'.
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, the Srimad Bhagavata, the Devi Bhagavata and a variety of other folk sources from India and abroad.
Venmurasu is distinct in its approach to re-narrating the timeless epic. First, rather than a simple re-telling of Mahabharata, the author weaves Indian thought into the novel's narrative structure. By this, the philosophical, cultural, and geographic landscape of India during the time of Mahabharata gets deeply embedded into the novel. Second, unlike many other contemporary re-narrations of Mahabharata, Venmurasu does not attempt to simply invert, negate, or transgress the original story and the characters. Neither does it try to focus its attention on one particular character at the expense of other characters. Rather, the novel fills the narrative gaps and expands upon the original story through establishing intense dramatic moments and via exploring the inner profile of various characters. For example, Vichitravirya– a minor character in the original narrative – is expanded upon in a full-blown manner. Third, Venmurasu's narration has the sensibilities of a contemporary novelist. The novel would resonate not just with the readers of Odyssey, Iliad, and Kamba Ramayana, or to those who like the works of Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and Thomas Mann, but also to those who are fans of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Roberto Bolaño.
For instance, 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. 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. 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.

Theme

While conventional Mahabharata narratives have reduced it to the proverbial battle between good and evil, Venmurasu presents a 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'.
Within the in-numerous folds of Mahabharatha's drama, Jeyamohan finds scope to explore and describe the 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".

Outline

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

Reception

Venmurasu has met with good response among readers of Tamil literature across the world. Noted writers Indira Parthasarathy and A Muttulingam have praised Venmurasu for its intricate descriptions, poetic depth and classic dynamics. Writer and orator Marabinmaindan Muthiah has written a 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. Critic and reviewer Suresh Venkatadri writes a series of reviews on Venmurasu at the online magazine Solvanam. Suresh Venkatadri also wrote a comparative review of Neelam and Krishna Krishna by Indira Parthasarathy. Editor and critic K N Sivaraman of Tamil magazine Kungumam called Venmurasu "a world class achievement".