Raja Ravi Varma- A Novel

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About the Book He was accused of remaking gods in the image of men, and insulting them by portraying them in the nude. He countered that he saw divinity in both gods and humans, and that nudity was the purest form he knew... This is the story of a little boy who grew up making charcoal sketches on freshly whitewashed temple walls, and went on to earn the title 'Raja' in the Thiruvananthapuram court for his artistic prowess. His painting of a Nair woman who worked in his wife's palace brought him wrath and recognition alike. His deep involvement with Sugandha, the Maharashtrian lady who became Menaka, Damayanti and Urvashi in his most acclaimed works, caught the fancy of many critics and admirers. Raja Ravi Varma: India's most celebrated painter. As controversial as he was gifted, Ravi Varma moved the Hindu gods and goddesses out of temples and into the common man's home, and immortalized many people and moments in history through his brushstrokes. Deeply influenced by European art, Varma won many international contests and was honored by many princely states in the country. The great master Swami Vivekananda is known to have asked him to paint his portrait. Rich with cultural history and set against the backdrop of the British Raj, Ranjit Desai's captivating biographical novel gives us many fresh insights into the life and mind of India's first-ever calendar artist.

About the Author RANJIT DESAI (8 April 1928 - 6 March 1992) was born in Kolhapur district, Maharashtra. He was a large-hearted litterateur whose writings had the facility to engage his readers emotionally. He wrote many short stories, novels, plays and movie scripts, and was awarded for his very first short story, 'Bhairav, which was published in the magazine Prasad in 1946. His most famous works are Shreeman Yogi, a historical novel on the life of Chatrapati Shivaji, Morpankhi Sawalya and Swami. He won the Maharashtra Rajya Award (1963), Hari Narayan Apte Award (1963), the Sahitya Akademi Award (1964), the Padmshri from the Government of India (1973), and the Maharashtra Gaurav Puraskar (1990).

VIKRANT PANDE started translating Marathi classics in order to take them to a wider audience. He graduated from IIM Bangalore in 1992 and has, in the past twenty years, worked with various companies like GE Capital, CitiFinancial and MetLife Insurance. He has headed various organizations, is currently an investment banker, and is also associated with IIM Udaipur as a visiting faculty. Vikrant is fluent in many Indian languages. His passion for Ravi Varma has led him to collect hundreds of oleographs over the past few years. He likes to believe that he works to earn, translates for passion, and swims and practices yoga to keep him fit. This is his first translation.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages