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{{short description|1900 Gujarati humorous novel by Ramanbhai Neelkanth}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2018}}
{{Infobox book
| italic title =
| name = Bhadrambhadra
| image = Bhadrambhadra book cover.jpeg
| caption = Book cover
| author = [[Ramanbhai Neelkanth]]
| title_orig = ભદ્રંભદ્ર
| orig_lang_code = gu
| title_working =
| translator =
| illustrator =
| cover_artist =
| country = India
| language = [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]]
| release_number =
| subject =
| genre = [[Comic novel|Humorous novel]]
| set_in =
| publisher =
| publisher2 =
| pub_date =
| published = 1900
| pages =
| awards =
| isbn =
| isbn_note =
| oclc = 26376533
| dewey = 891.477
| congress =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| native_wikisource = ભદ્રંભદ્ર
}}
'''''Bhadrambhadra''''' ({{IPA|gu|bʰə.drəm.bʰə.drə|pron|Gu-Bhadrambhadra.ogg}}) is a 1900 [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]] [[satirical]] novel by [[Ramanbhai Neelkanth]]. It is regarded as the first humorous novel in [[Gujarati literature]] and as the first Gujarati novel written in the [[first person narrative]]. Ramanbhai used the novel to illustrate the ridiculousness of a highly orthodox view of Gujarati society and as a vehicle for social reform.

Although criticised for a lack of character development and a repetitiveness of situations, the novel has remained popular to this day. It has been republished numerous times and is currently in print in several languages. It is still common to nickname highly orthodox Sanskrit-accented Gujaratis after the eponymous protagonist.

==Overview==
[[File:Ramanbhai Neelkanth.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|Ramanbhai Neelkanth|left]]
''Bhadrambhadra'' is a 1900 Gujarati language satirical novel by Ramanbhai Neelkanth.<ref name="Lal1992">{{cite book|author=Mohan Lal|title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: Sasay to Zorgot|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KnPoYxrRfc0C&pg=PA3841|access-date=11 May 2018|year=1992|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|location=New Delhi|isbn=978-81-260-1221-3|page=3841}}</ref> It is regarded as the first humorous novel in [[Gujarati literature]].<ref name="JhaveriAkademi1978">{{cite book|author=Mansukhlal Maganlal Jhaveri|author-link=Mansukhlal Jhaveri|title=History of Gujarati Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DA0RAAAAMAAJ|year=1978|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|location=New Delhi|page=116}}</ref><ref name="George1992">{{cite book|author=K. M. George|title=Modern Indian Literature, an Anthology: Surveys and poems|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m1R2Pa3f7r0C&pg=PA128|access-date=11 May 2018|year=1992|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|location=New Delhi|isbn=978-81-7201-324-0|page=128}}</ref> The novel is influenced by ''[[The Pickwick Papers]]'' and ''[[Don Quixote]]''. Ramanlal had a long running controversy with [[Manilal Dwivedi]] on numerous topics related to religion, philosophy, social reform, education and literature.<ref name="Thaker1983">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G3kYHAAACAAJ|title=Manilal Dwivedi|last=Thaker|first=Dhirubhai|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|year=1983|series=Makers of Indian Literature|location=New Delhi|pages=14–16, 35–36, 51|oclc=10532609|author-link=Dhirubhai Thaker}}</ref> Ramanlal was a liberal who was open to western influences while Manilal was an orthodox who opposed the western influences. Ramanbhai showed up the rigidity, pettiness, vanity and hypocrisy of these opponents of social reform in the book.<ref name="JhaveriAkademi1978"/><ref>{{Cite book|title=કેટલાક સાહિત્યિક વિવાદો|last=Thaker|first=Dhirubhai|date=May 2011|publisher=Gujarat Vishwakosh Trust|edition=1st|location=Ahmedabad|pages=60|trans-title=A Few Literary Controversies|chapter=11. દ્વૈત-અદ્વૈત-વિવાદ|trans-chapter=Dualism-Nondualism controversy|author-link=Dhirubhai Thaker|oclc=741752210}}</ref> Ramanbhai Neelkanth's enthusiasm for social reform was strongly influenced by his father, [[Mahipatram Rupram Nilkanth]], an educationist and social reformer.<ref name="NBT1997">{{cite book|editor=K. M. George|title=Masterpieces of Indian literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dXFOAAAAYAAJ|access-date=5 March 2018|volume=1|year=1997|publisher=National Book Trust|location=New Delhi|isbn=978-81-237-1978-8|page=351}}</ref>

''Bhadrambhadra'' was serialized from 1892 to 1900 in ''[[Jnanasudha]]'', the organ of Ahmedabad [[Prarthana Samaj]] edited by Ramanbhai himself,<ref name="NBT1997"/> and then published as a book in 1900 with further amendments. Ramanbhai wanted to publish the first edition with paintings but was unable to. In 1918 the third edition of the novel was published with illustrations by [[Ravishankar Raval]]. The 7th edition, published in 1953 with a preface by [[Jyotindra Dave]], did not have illustrations; only photographs of Ramanbhai and Ambalal, the publisher, were included in it. Further editions were published without illustrations or photographs.<ref name="Gujarati Vishwakosh">{{cite book |last1=Borisagar |first1= Ratilal |last2=Daru |first2=Manoj |title=Gujarati Vishwakosh (Gujarati Encyclopedia) |volume=14 |year=2001 |location=Ahmedabad |publisher=[[Gujarati Vishwakosh|Gujarati Vishwakosh Trust]] |page=309}}</ref>

==Synopsis==
[[File:Bhdrambhadra play.jpg|thumb|Performance of ''Bhadrambhadra'' at H. K Arts College, [[Ahmedabad]]; 1 September 2018]]

The novel is named after its protagonist, Bhadrambhadra. It is narrated in the [[First-person narrative|first person]] by Ambaram Kevalram Modakiya, a pupil of Bhadrambhadra.<ref name="Gujarati Vishwakosh"/> It is the first Gujarati novel to be written in the first person narrative.<ref name="GSP">{{cite web | title=સવિશેષ પરિચય: રમણભાઈ નીલકંઠ, ગુજરાતી સાહિત્ય પરિષદ | website=Gujarati Sahitya Parishad | url=http://gujaratisahityaparishad.com/prakashan/sarjako/savishesh/Savishesh-Ramanbhai-Nilkanth.html | language=gu | access-date=7 June 2018}}</ref>

Bhadrambhadra is an orthodox Hindu Brahmin and an [[Idiosyncrasy|idiosyncratic]] person, who is opposed to anything that is non-traditional, non-Hindu, non-Sanskrit, non-[[Aryan]] or that is different from his traditional way of life or pattern of thoughts. Because of this, he changed his name from Daulat Shankar to Bhadrambhadra (lit. Good Good), as the word ''Daulat'' is non-Sanskrit, non-Indian and so, he felt, irreligious in origin.<ref name="JhaveriAkademi1978"/> In the novel Bhadrambhadra speaks highly [[Sanskritisation|Sanskritised]] Gujarati and therefore is not able to make himself understood, which creates humorous situations.<ref name="Datta1987">{{cite book|author=Amaresh Datta|title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: A-Devo|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ObFCT5_taSgC&pg=PA418|access-date=8 May 2018|year=1987|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|location=New Delhi|isbn=978-81-260-1803-1|page=418}}</ref>

==Reception and criticism==
''Bhadrambhadra'' is considered a classic of Gujarati literature and it was received well by readers and a number of critics.<ref name="Gujarati Vishwakosh"/> However, the ''[[Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature]]'' states that there is no development of character, and because of a lack of variety of situations and of behavior by the protagonist, the humour is not sustained throughout and the latter half of the book becomes uninteresting.<ref name="Datta1987"/> [[K. M. Munshi]] gave a mixed review. He noted in ''Gujarat and Its Literature'': <blockquote>The story is poorly told in places and lacks organic unity. The work is rendered enjoyable by absurd situations and still funnier Samskritised Gujarati. Bhadrambhadra, the pretentious fool with his holy enthusiasm to secure the ever-rising glorious triumph of eternal ''Arya Dharma'', is an immortal figure in Gujarati fiction.<ref name="Jhaveri1956">{{cite book|last=Munshi|first=Kanaiyalal Maneklal |author-link=Kanaiyalal Maneklal Munshi |title=Gujarat and Its Literature|url=https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.61361/2015.61361.Gujarata-And-Its-Literaure#page/n308/mode/1up/search/Bhadram|year=1935|publisher=Longmans, Green & Co. Ltd.|location=Calcutta|pages=281–282}}</ref></blockquote>

[[Anandshankar Dhruv]] strongly criticized the novel and called it 'a barrier in social reform activities'.<ref name=Thaker2016>{{cite book|last=Thaker|first=Dhirubhai|title=અર્વાચીન ગુજરાતી સાહિત્યની વિકાસરેખા: સાક્ષરયુગ|trans-title=An Outline of the Development of Modern Gujarati Literature: Scholar Era|volume=3|year=2016|publisher=Gurjar Grantharatna Karyalaya|location=Ahmedabad|page=69|isbn=978-93-5162-325-0}}</ref>

==Legacy==
During Ramanbhai's life, the character Bhadrambhadra became very popular and anybody who spoke Sanskritised Gujarati was nicknamed Bhadrambhadra. It is still a common nickname for any highly orthodox person.<ref name="George1992"/><ref name="Datta1987"/>

In 1994, Gujarati humourist [[Ratilal Borisagar]] published a novel ''Sambhavami Yuge Yuge'' in which he represented Bhadrambahdra in contemporary milieu with light criticism of [[Sardar Sarovar Dam]] project. In 2014, he published another humorous novel ''Bhadrambhadra Amar Chhe'' focusing on [[gender equality]].<ref name="gg">{{cite book|title=ગુજરાતી સાહિત્યનો ઈતિહાસ: 8 (ખંડ 1) સ્વાતંત્રયોત્તર યુગ - 2|last=Mehta|first=Hasit|date=November 2018|publisher=[[Gujarati Sahitya Parishad]]|isbn=((978-81-93884-9-4))|editor1-last=Chaudhari|editor1-first=Raghuveer|series=8|volume=2|location=Ahmedabad|pages=308–313|language=gu|trans-title=History of Gujarati Literature : 8 (Khand : 1) Post-independence Era - 2|editor2-last=Desai|editor2-first=Parul Kandarp}}</ref> Gujarati writer Viththal Pandya wrote a short story "Bhadrambhadra Ane Hu" which brings Bhadrambhadra with him in contemporary milieu of 20th century in which they visit cinema and hotels in new sociopolitical climate.<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Topiwala|editor1-first=Chandrakant|editor1-link=Chandrakant Topiwala|editor2-last=Dave|editor2-first=Ramesh R.|script-title=gu:ગુજરાતી ટૂંકી વાર્તાકોશ|trans-title=Gujarati Short Story Encyclopedia|date=June 2008|edition=2nd|publisher=[[Gujarati Sahitya Parishad]]|location=Ahmedabad|pages=64|oclc=24870863}}</ref> Gujarati columnist Urvish Kothari wrote a short novel titled "Bhadrambhadra" which is based on Bhadrambhadra's adventures in the [[Patidar reservation agitation]] of 2015.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* {{wikisourcelang-inline|gu|ભદ્રંભદ્ર}}
* {{Gujarati Vishwakosh}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1900 novels]]
[[Category:Gujarati-language novels]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian novels]]
[[Category:Novels set in the 20th century]]
[[Category:Indian humour]]
[[Category:Indian autobiographical novels]]
[[Category:Novels first published in serial form]]
[[Category:First-person narrative novels]]
[[Category:Works originally published in Indian magazines]]

Bhadrambhadra - Revision history

Shubha at 05:52, 24 January 2026