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{{short description|1887 collection of poems by Narsinhrao Divetia}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}}
{{Infobox book
| name = Kusumamala
| image = Kusumamala title page.png
| image_size =
| caption = Title page of 4th edition, 1912
| author = [[Narsinhrao Divetia]]
| audio_read_by =
| title_orig = કુસુમમાળા
| orig_lang_code = gu
| title_working =
| translator =
| illustrator =
| cover_artist =
| country = India
| language = [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]]
| series =
| release_number =
| subject = Love, nature
| genre = [[Lyric poetry]]
| set_in =
| publisher =
| publisher2 =
| pub_date = 1887
| english_pub_date =
| published =
| media_type =
| pages =
| awards =
| isbn =
| isbn_note =
| oclc = 33236882
| dewey = 891.471
| congress = PK1859.D57 K8 1953
| followed_by =
| native_wikisource = કુસુમમાળા
| notes =
}}

'''''Kusumamala''''' ({{Translation|Garland of Flowers}}) is a collection of poems by [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]] writer [[Narsinhrao Divetia]] published in 1887. It is considered Divetia's [[Masterpiece|magnum opus]] and a milestone in the history of modern [[Gujarati literature|Gujarati poetry]]. The poems were written in the manner of English lyrical poetry. The work was well received by the new school writers while criticised by old school writers.

==Origin==
Divetia was interested in and influenced by [[Romantic poetry#English Romantic poetry|English romantic poetry]], especially the work of [[William Wordsworth]].<ref name="Beṭāī1985">{{cite book|author=Betai|first=Sundarji|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lKAhAAAAMAAJ|title=Narasinghrao|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|year=1985|location=New Delhi|page=11|author-link=Sundarji Betai|access-date=22 February 2018}}</ref> He therefore wrote [[Lyric poetry|lyrics]] in the pattern of English lyrical poetry compiled in the ''[[Palgrave's Golden Treasury]]''. In the introduction to ''Kusumamala'', Divetia wrote:<ref name=Choudhuri2016>{{cite book|editor-last=Choudhuri |editor-first=Indra Nath |title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: I-L |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z4ruAQAACAAJ |date=2016 |publisher=[[Sahitya Akademi]] |location=New Delhi |pages=2988 |isbn=978-81-260-4758-1}}</ref>
{{blockquote|I have published the collection of these short lyrics with the highest aim to introduce to the Gujarati readers the method of compositions of the western poetry which is different from that adopted in our country; I do this not by dry critical discussion, but by examples, in order to draw their attention towards that poetry and to show what the true poetry is...|Narsinhrao Divetia, 1887}}

==Content==
The ''Kusumamala'' contains 62 poems on various subjects, including love, nature, social conditions, and historical places and events. The poems are written in various metres as well as in traditional and folk melodies and rhythms. The collection includes short and long poems, with some having nearly one hundred lines. The shortest poem is "Mangalacharan" ("The Auspicious Stanza"), which consists of just four lines, while the longest poem is "Chanda" ("The Moon"), consisting of 112 lines which are divided into 28 stanzas of four lines each. Some other long poems are "Asthir Ane Sthir Prem" ("Unsteady and Steady Love") (68 lines), "Vidhvano Vilap" ("The Lamentation of the Widow") (96 lines), and "Megh", a translation of "[[The Cloud (poem)|The Cloud]]" by English poet [[Percy Bysshe Shelley]] (92 lines).<ref name=Choudhuri2016/>

==Reception==
The ''Kusumamala'' was well received by readers. Its first edition was published in 1887, followed by a second edition in 1902, third edition in 1907, and fourth edition in 1912.<ref>{{cite book |last=Divetia |first=Narsinhrao |title=Kusumamala |year=1887 |edition=4th|language=gu |publisher=Jivanlal Amarshi Mehta |location=Ahmedabad |pages=4–11}}</ref>

The ''Kusumamala'' was received positively by the new or Western school writers but negatively by the old or orthodox school writers. [[Navalram Pandya]]'s review was very short and terse. He found the verses, modelled as they were on those of Shelley and Wordsworth, were intended to give an idea to the Gujarati reader as to the sort of poetry the West produced. He praised the poems as being delightful and on the whole easy to understand, although the language and style were cultured (fully developed). ''Kusumamala'' received negative criticism from [[Manilal Nabhubhai Dwivedi]], who called it "foreign exotic flowers, bright coloured but without beauty or fragrance, nothing better than a garland of flowers skilfully woven in obedience to the alluring vogue then prevalent of considering everything coming from the West worthy of imitation". Dwivedi criticised the collection for months in the ''Priyamavada'' and ''Sudarshana'' magazines which he edited, arousing controversy. [[Ramanbhai Neelkanth]] responded with a series of articles in ''Jnan Sudha''. He contested Dwivedi's criticism and hailed the collection as "an oasis in the desert of Gujarati poetic literature".<ref name="Jhaveri1934">{{cite book|first=Krishnalal Mohanlal |last=Jhaveri|author-link=Krishnalal Jhaveri|title=The present state of Gujarati literature|url=https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.76697/2015.76697.The-Present-State-Of-Gujarati-Literature#page/n69/mode/2up|access-date=7 March 2018|year=1934|publisher=University of Bombay|pages=57–58}} {{PD-notice}}</ref><ref name="Jhaveri1956">{{cite book|last=Jhaveri|first=Krishnalal Mohanlal |title=Further milestones in Gujarāti literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rqxHAAAAMAAJ|year=1956|edition=2nd|publisher=Forbes Gujarati Sabha|location=Mumbai|pages=148–149}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>

[[Manishankar Bhatt]] 'Kant' and [[Balwantray Thakore]] also criticised the collection, while [[Anandshankar Dhruv]] appreciated it.<ref name=Choudhuri2016/> [[Govardhanram Tripathi]] quoted a few lines from ''Chanda'', a poem in ''Kusumamala'', in his epic novel ''[[Saraswatichandra (novel)|Saraswatichandra]]''.<ref name="Joshi1979">{{cite book|first=Ramanlal |last=Joshi|author-link=Ramanlal Joshi|title=Govardhanram|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SOEQAAAAMAAJ|access-date=22 February 2018|year=1979|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|location=New Delhi|page=35}}</ref> Divetia's second poetry collection, ''Hridayavina'', aroused similar controversy.<ref name="Jhaveri1934"/>

[[Kanaiyalal Maneklal Munshi]], in ''Gujarat and Its Literature'', noted that with ''Kusumamala'', Divetia launched the age of romantic poetry in the Gujarati language.<ref>{{cite book|last=Munshi|first=Kanaiyalal|author-link=Kanaiyalal Maneklal Munshi|title=Gujarat and Its Literature|url=https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.541382/2015.541382.Gujarat-And#page/n287/mode/2up|year=1935|publisher=Longmans Green & Co. Ltd.|location=Culcutta|page=266}}</ref>

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

==External links==
* {{Gujarati Vishwakosh}}
* {{Internet Archive|id=in.ernet.dli.2015.537621}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1887 books]]
[[Category:Gujarati-language poetry collections]]
[[Category:1887 poems]]
[[Category:Indian poetry collections]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian books]]

Kusumamala - Revision history

DesignersX at 22:27, 11 January 2026