>QuiteUnusual at 13:22, 22 April 2021

2021-04-22T13:22:59Z

New page

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2018}}
{{Infobox book

| name = Agnisakshi
| image = Agnisakshi Fire, My Witness.jpg
| image_size =
| caption =
| alt =
| author = [[Lalithambika Antharjanam]]
| title_orig = അഗ്നിസാക്ഷി
| translator = Vasanthi Sankaranarayanan
| illustrator =
| cover_artist =
| country = India
| language = [[Malayalam]]
| series =
| subject =
| genre = Novel
| publisher = Current Books
| publisher2 =
| pub_date = {{Start date|1976||}}
| english_pub_date = 1980
| media_type =
| pages = 111
| awards = [[Sahitya Akademi Award|Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award]]<br/>[[Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award]]<br/>[[Vayalar Award]]<br/>[[Odakkuzhal Award]]
| isbn =
| oclc =
| dewey =
| congress =
| preceded_by =
| preceded_by_quotation_marks =
| followed_by =
| followed_by_quotation_marks =
| wikisource =
}}
'''''Agnisakshi''''' (meaning, With Fire As Witness) is a [[Malayalam]] novel written by [[Lalithambika Antharjanam]].<ref>C. Sarat Chandran (3 January 2010). [https://web.archive.org/web/20100108013413/http://www.hindu.com/lr/2010/01/03/stories/2010010350180400.htm "A lone female voice"]. ''The Hindu''. Retrieved 30 June 2013.</ref> Originally serialised in ''[[Mathrubhumi Azhchappathippu|Mathrubhumi Illustrated Weekly]]'', it was published as a book by Current Books in 1976. It tells the story of a [[Nambudiri]] woman, who is drawn into the struggle for social and political emancipation but cannot easily shake off the chains of tradition that bind her.<ref>B. R. P. Bhaskar (15 April 2003). [http://www.hindu.com/br/2003/04/15/stories/2003041500120302.htm "Malayalam novels"]. ''The Hindu''. Retrieved 30 June 2013.</ref> The novel was concerned with implied criticism of aspects of social structure and behaviour.

''Agnisakshi'' was Lalithambika Antarjanam's only novel. She was famous for her short stories and poems. She wrote this novel in her old age. It has become something of a classic in Malayalam fiction. It received the [[Sahitya Akademi Award|Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award]] and [[Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award]].

==Plot summary==
Thethikutty (Devaki or Sumitarananda) is married to Unni Nambudiri of the well-known Brahmin family named Manampilly Illam. He is young, virtuous, and loving but too orthodox to be the husband of a woman with Thethikutty's views. Feeling frustrated, Thethikutty leaves him once and forever and reaches her paternal home. Unni lives the life of a piety, is branded as an eccentric and dies. Thethikutty, meanwhile, finds no peace anywhere. At last, in the [[Himalayas]], she meets her old friend and Unni's half-sister, the sixty-year-old Mrs K.M.K. Nair (Thankam). She finds her unborn son in Mrs. Nair's son and hands over her wedding pendant to her daughter with the request to cherish it with due regard.

==Themes==
In the novel, the author explores the ideas of choice, detachment, renunciation, love and devotion through three of her main characters - two women Thethikutty (Sumitarananda, Devaki Manampilli or Devi Bahen), Thankam Nair and one man Unni Nambudiri.

==Awards==
* 1977: [[Sahitya Akademi Award|Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award]]
* 1977: [[Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award]]
* 1977: [[Malayalam Literary Awards#Odakkuzhal Award|Odakkuzhal Award]]
* 1977: [[Vayalar Award]]

==Translation==
After reading the serialised story published in ''[[Mathrubhumi Azhchappathippu|Mathrubhumi Illustrated Weekly]]'', translator and art critic Vasanthi Sankaranarayanan got permission from Lalithambika Antharjanam to translate it.<ref name=EngTrans>{{cite web|first=Padmini|last=Natarajan|date=22 March 2007|url=http://www.harmonyindia.org/hportal/VirtualPageView.jsp?page_id=4641 |title=Working as translator and critic|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111122234112/http://harmonyindia.org/hportal/VirtualPageView.jsp?page_id=4641 |archive-date=22 November 2011|work=Harmony Magazine}}</ref> The English translation, titled ''Agnisakshi'' itself, was published in 1980 by the [[Kerala Sahitya Akademi]].<ref name=EngTrans/>

==Film adaptation==
{{Main|Agnisakshi (1999 film)}}
In 1999, a film adaptation of the novel was released, starring [[Rajit Kapur]] as Unni Nambudiri, [[Sobhana]] as Devaki and [[Praveena]] as Thankam. The film was scripted and directed by [[Shyamaprasad]]. It won a [[National Film Award (India)|National Film Award]] and eight [[Kerala State Film Awards]]. The film was however criticised for glorifying [[spiritualism]] and [[Hindutva]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Salim Mohammed |first=Mohammed |year=1999 |title=Agnisakshi, a dream come true for Shyamaprasad |url=http://www.shyamaprasad.info/news/news_01.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170412134509/http://shyamaprasad.info/news/news_01.htm |archive-date=12 April 2017 |website=Shyamaprasad.info |publisher=[[The Peninsula (newspaper)|The Peninsula]] |publication-place=[[Doha]] |publication-date=8 May 1999}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |year=1998 |title=Agnisakshi Film is loyal to novel |url=http://shyamaprasad.info/news/news_10.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170412223117/http://shyamaprasad.info/news/news_10.htm |archive-date=12 April 2017 |website=Shyamaprasad.info |publisher=[[The New Indian Express]] |publication-date=14 September 1998}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Santhosh |first=K. |year=1998 |title=Document of a disturbing era |url=http://shyamaprasad.info/news/news_05.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170412195622/http://shyamaprasad.info/news/news_05.htm |archive-date=12 April 2017 |website=Shyamaprasad.info |publisher=[[The Hindu]] |publication-date=6 August 1999}}</ref><ref>Gautaman Bhaskaran. [http://www.shyamaprasad.info/news/news_06.htm "A Literary Masterpiece On Celluloid"]. ''The Hindu''. 20 November 1998. Retrieved 30 June 2013.</ref><ref>[http://www.shyamaprasad.info/news/news_07.htm "Agnisakshi, a Spiritual Film"]. ''The Indian Express''. 15 January 1999. Retrieved 30 June 2013.</ref><ref>Vinu Abraham. [http://www.shyamaprasad.info/news/news_13.htm "A Trail by Fire"]. ''The Week''. 18 October 1998. Retrieved 30 June 2013.</ref><ref>M. G. Radhakrishnan. [http://www.shyamaprasad.info/news/news_14.htm "Film under Fire"]. ''India Today''. 12 April 1999. Retrieved 30 June 2013.</ref><ref>[http://www.shyamaprasad.info/news/news_08.htm "No Hindutva in my film - Shyamaprasad"]. ''The Hindu''. 21 March 1999. Retrieved 30 June 2013.</ref>

==References==
<references />

==Further reading==
* {{cite web |title=Literary Criticism - Antarjanam & her novel |author=Vasanthi Sankaranarayanan |url=http://vasanthisankaranarayanan.blogspot.in/2012/10/literary-criticism-antarjanam-her-novel.html |date=22 October 2012}}
* {{cite web |title=Literary Criticism - Agnisakshi - contd. |author=Vasanthi Sankaranarayanan |url=http://vasanthisankaranarayanan.blogspot.in/2012/10/literary-criticism-agnisakshi-c0ntd.html |date=23 October 2012 }}
* {{cite web |title=Agnisakshi - First chapter |author=Vasanthi Sankaranarayanan |url=http://vasanthisankaranarayanan.blogspot.in/2012/10/agnisakshi-first-chapter.html |date=17 October 2012 }}
* {{cite web |title=Agnisakshi - some ideas explored |author=Vasanthi Sankaranarayanan |url=http://vasanthisankaranarayanan.blogspot.in/2012/10/agnisakshi-some-ideas-explored.html |date=20 October 2012 }}
* {{cite web |title=Agnisakshi - Other influences |author=Vasanthi Sankaranarayanan |url=http://vasanthisankaranarayanan.blogspot.in/2012/10/agnisakshi-other-influences.html |date= 21 October 2012 }}

{{Malayalam Literature |state=collapsed}}

[[Category:1976 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:1976 Indian novels]]

Agnisakshi novel - Revision history

>QuiteUnusual at 13:22, 22 April 2021