Kayar

This article is about the Malayalam novel. For the city in Senegal, see Kayar, Senegal.

Kayar (transl. Coir) is a 1978 Malayalam epic novel by Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai. Widely considered one of the most seminal works in Malayalam literature,^[1][2] Kayar received many major literary awards, including the Vayalar Award.^[3]

Kayar
(Coir)

1984 edition
Author	Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai
Translator	N. Sreekantan Nair
Language	Malayalam
Genre	Novel
Publisher	DC Books (Malayalam), Sahitya Akademi (English)
Publication date	1978
Publication place	India
Published in English	1998
Pages	986
Awards	Vayalar Award
ISBN	9788171300716

Plot summary

Set in Kuttanad, the novel traces the evolution of the central Travancore society from the early 19th century to the mid-twentieth century. It covers more than two centuries of Kerala life, encompassing six generations of characters. The historic transformation of man's relationship with land, with other men, with women and even God, forms the staple theme of Kayar.

Background

The idea of a novel that contains the vignettes of social life in Kerala stayed in the author's mind for many years. "Two hundred and fifty years of Kerala life flowed past my mind's eye. But I needed a form. I could find no help from the Western classics," Thakazhi reminisces. For years he carried the "germ" inside his head. One night, as he lay sleepless in bed, the Mahabharata epic with its episodic structure drifted into his mind as a possibility. The next day he started work on Kayar. It took him three years to complete the book.^[4]

Translations

• Coir: English translation by N. Sreekantan Nair; Sahitya Akademi; 1998
• Kayiru: Tamil translation by C.A. Balan; Sahitya Akademi; 2003
• Hagga: Kannada translation by K.K. Nair and Ashok Kumar; Sahitya Akademi; 2007
• Rassi (1995), Hindi translation by Sudhanshu Chaturvedi. For this, Chaturvedi has won the Sahitya Akademi Award for translation.^[5]

Adaptations

• Bhayanakam (2018), directed by Jayaraj.

Awards

• 1980: Vayalar Award