This novel was written for a competition organised by Andhra University in 1934, in which this entry shared the prize with Adivi Bapiraju's Narayana Rao. Viswanadha dictated the novel extemporaneously to his younger brother, Venkateswarlu, who wrote it down. It was completed in 29 days, taking up 999 broadsheets. Many of the author's close associates say the book was influenced by his own life. Later, it was published in 1937-38 in Andhra Patrika as a serial, and again once more later. Again in 1987-88, it was republished in the golden jubilee edition of the same newspaper.
Characters
Rameshwara Sastry, the hereditary chief minister of Subbannapeta
Ranga Rao, the westernized, England-educate son of Krishnama Naidu
Ganachari, the hereditary virgin-oracle of the Subrahmanyeswara, the deity of one of the local temples and a representation of Shiva, who is given the ability to glance into the future
Girika, a devadasi dancing maid in the service of Venugopala Swamy, the deity of one of the local temples and a representation of Vishnu
Rameswara Sastry, the son of Rameswara Sastry by his non-brahmin wife
Harappa Naidu, the only son of Ranga Rao
Synopsis
The story chronicles the lives of those living in a village named Subbannapeta over three centuries. The village's fortunes have a close relationship to the change in traditional social structures like the caste system, the temple, the family, and the farm. These aspects are symbolically represented by the families of Harappa Naidu, Rameswara Sastry, and Ganachari. At the start of the novel, Veeranna Naidu discovers a treasure trove and is convinced by a Brahmin astrologer to found Subbannapeta as a zamindari. He establishes temples for Subrahmanyeswara and Venugopala Swamy, representations of Shiva and Vishnu respectively, and constructs a fort, which offers safety and acts as a seat of traditional learning. The villagers' commitment to the two local temples decreases over the centuries and mirrors the gradual decline and disappearance of traditional culture and the village itself. The hoods of the thousand-hooded serpent that embodies the village's patron god Subrahmanyeswara disappear with this decline, with scarcely two remaining with the passage of time.
Translations & Adaptations
This novel was translated into Hindi by PV Narsimha Rao, former PM of India, as Sahasra Phan in 1968. In turn, it was translated from Hindi into Sanskrit with the same name by Prabhavati Devi. In 1995, it was aired on Doordarshan as a TV serial. In 1976, Chandrakant Mehta and Mahendra Dhave translated this novel into Gujarati. Later, R.V.S. Sundaram translated the work into Kannada. In 1998, it was published in a Kannada newspaper as "Nootana". The novel was translated into English by five translators over two and a half years. The five translators are Aruna Vyas, Atreya Sarma Uppuluri, Vaidehi Sasidhar, S. Narayana Swamy, and C. Subba Rao, who edited the volume.
