পুরাণের ভারত

by Anita Nair, Afranul Islam Sewam (Translator ), শুভঙ্কর শুভ (Translator )

আছে জ্ঞানী ঋষি,
রাক্ষস আর অসুরদের কথা।
সুন্দরী জলদেবী থেকে শয়তান রাজা,
স্বেচ্ছাচারী দেবতা, বীট রাজপুত্রের গাথা।
এছাড়াও আছে কিছু পৌরাণিক গল্প,
যা কিনা পুরাণের জাদুময় অংশ!

Genres: Mythology, India, Childrens, Fiction, Fantasy

Hardcover

First published December 10, 2007

About the author

Anita Nair is the bestselling and critically acclaimed author of the novels The Better Man, Ladies Coupé, Mistress, Lessons in Forgetting, Idris: Keeper of the Light and Alphabet Soup for Lovers. She has also authored a crime series featuring Inspector Gowda.

Anita Nair’s other books include a collection of poems titled Malabar Mind, a collection of essays titled Goodnight & God Bless and six books for children. Anita Nair has also written two plays and the screenplay for the movie adaptation of her novel Lessons in Forgetting which was part of the Indian Panorama at IFFI 2012 and won the National Film Award in 2013. Among other awards, she was also given the Central Sahitya Akademi award and the Crossword Prize. Her books have been translated into over thirty one languages around the world. She is also the founder of the creative writing and mentorship program Anita’s Attic.

Reviews

[Rosh · Rating 3 out of 5]

In an age where our children know more about Percy Jackson than our own mythology, books need to be packaged in a way that attract this new generation. Unfortunately, this book tries hard but falls short.

As an anthology of fifty interesting stories from Indian mythology, this book does get its basics right. The stories talk about Gods and asuras, sages and kings, rivers and mountains. There is a lot of variety within its pages.

The book will inform us about our rich heritage and vast mythology for sure. What it won't do to a great extent is educate or entertain you. The language used is very simple, which would have been fine. But the writing style is pretty dull. How I wish the writing would have been more zealous! After all, the book is aimed at younger readers and they need to find such books appealing. The "X happened, Y happened, Z happened" narrative pattern is quite boring for the intended target audience. Add some pizzazz! Add some excitement! Get them hooked on to this genre and our culture before it's too late!

Moreover, the stories are too short for you to be invested in the characters. To make matters worse, the tales jump across characters and timelines randomly. So you will have a couple of stories on one character, the next story will be on some other totally random character with no connection to the first, then you might have three stories about a single character,... The structuring is quite haphazard and the mind gets boggled at the number of names thrown at you without much of a background provided. I think the book presupposes a certain familiarity with Indian mythology, but if so, it defeats the purpose of reading this book, doesn't it?

I am still giving it 3 stars out of respect for the content. Were I to rate it solely for the writing, the rating might go down at least by a whole star. Maybe my high expectations from the book proved to be its death knell even before I read it. I also hold Stephen Fry partially responsible for the low rating. Had he not mesmerized me so much with his writing style in Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold, I might have enjoyed this book with lower expectations. How I wish he writes a book on Indian mythology too! :(


Big Question: Why does an Indian author writing about Indian mythology need Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History and Literature by John Dawson and A Dictionary of World Mythology by Arthur Cotterell for her reference? Don't we have any Indian references that could possibly offer a more accurate perspective?


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[Amit Tiwary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book. All those famous myths and stories, which were part of our growing, are re-told. Simplistic approach of story telling, easy words, short passages, no unnecessary narratives, and nice pictures/illustrations.

You will love it as I loved it.

[Priya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this collection of myths about Indian culture. The illustrations are fabulous.
While some are well known like the stories relating to the Ramayana and Mahabharata, there are other lesser known ones too like the story of how the Saraswati river disappeared or the reason why human beings blink.
I love stories from mythology so I really enjoyed this book.

Edited to add: Went back and read the acknowledgements and the source for verification baffles me too like some other readers of the book have mentioned! No Indian sources? Many of these stories are as per what I grew up hearing so seem accurate but even so.

[Hitesh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good Stories....could've added better stories.

But when you have based your research on Non-Indian Encyclopedia instead of original books, this is what you end up writing !!!

Yes... The Best Thing about this books are the illustrations. Very Creative

[Yipin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations by Atanu Roy are gorgeous. The stories are interesting but some seems to have been cut short or over summarize that it's missing some back story. But nonetheless still an interesting read.

[Megha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Neat story telling. though most of the instances are to common knowledge, the author does have her share of surprise :)

[S. Garland · Rating 3 out of 5]

The myths are nice, but the translated narrative isn't clear. Also, poor Indra, that guy... man, always losing the heavens or his celestial goods.

[Shashoto Sharif · Rating 4 out of 5]

পূরাণের কিছু কাহিনীর সংক্ষিপ্ত ভার্শন বলা চলে,তবে বেশিই সংক্ষিপ্ত।সেই কবে উপেন্দ্রকিশোর রায়চৌধুরী তাঁর "পূরাণের গল্প" তে যত ডিটেইলস এ গেছেন,তার তুলনায় এই বইটি বড্ড ছোট।তবে বিশ্বামিত্রের কাহিনীটা আগে পড়ি নাই,ভালই লেগেছে।
বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ে থাকতে ল্যাব রিপোর্ট লেখার সময় মাঝেমধ্যে এমন হত যে এক টপিকের লেখার সময় এক পেজের অর্ধেকের বেশি ফাঁকা,পরের পেজের প্রথমেই একটা ছবি।বেশি হেলাফেলা করা হলে যা হয় আরকি।তবে একটা হার্ডকভার বইয়ে এরকম দৃষ্টিকটু কিছু দেখব তা ভাবি নাই।সম্পাদনা কি হয়েছে আদৌ এই বই এ?

[Ravi Teja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of these stories were very different from the ones I knew. I guess that's because of the reference used, A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History and Literature by John Dowson, which I sometimes find having things that are different from the most known versions.

Good book nevertheless! Didn't know the story of Yama and his leg.

[Soumyabrata Sarkar · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Puffin Book of Magical Indian Myths | Anita Nair, Atanu Roy (Illustrator) | Book 87 of 2020 | Puffin | ebook

Armed with 50 tales from the Hindu pantheon, about "Why/How/What", this one read like an english version of my much beloved childhood literature of পুরানের গল্প by উপেন্দ্রকিশোর রায়চৌধুরী (Puraner Golpo by Upendrakishore Roychowdhury).
Vishnu's avatars, feud and tussles between sages, kings, demons, damsels and gods, benevolence and violence, monstrous upheavals and midnight treacheries, chaos of boons, curses and counter-curses, love and betrayal, friendship and kinship, property and prejudice, truth and disguises.
.
Nair's lucid storytelling finding firm ground on the shoulders of heavenly artwork by Roy.
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contents below
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01. How the Sun Became Less Fierce
02. How the Lingam Was Born
03. How Mankind Was Saved from Extinction - Vishnu’s First Avatar—The Matsya
04. The Churning of the Cosmic Ocean - Vishnu’s Second Avatar—The Kurma
05. How the Earth Was Dredged Back - Vishnu’s Third Avatar—The Varaha
06. The Killing of Hiranyakashipu - Vishnu’s Fourth Avatar—Narasimha
07. How King Bali Lost His Kingdom - Vishnu’s Fifth Avatar—Vamana
08. Why Sukanya Wed Chyavana
09. How Sukanya Thwarted the Ashwin Twins
10. How Dadhyanch Saved the Earth
11. Why Gadhinandana Became a Sage
12. How the King Became Vishwamitra
13. Why the River Saraswati Disappeared
14. Why a New Heaven Was Created for Trishankhu
15. How Vishwamitra Rescued Sunashepas
16. How Vishwamitra Became a Brahma Rishi
17. How All Living Creatures Began to Blink
18. How the Island of Sri Lanka Came to Be
19. How Pushan Became Toothless
20. How Taraka Became Indestructible
21. How Ganesha Got His Elephant Head
22. How Taraka Was Destroyed
23. What Aurva Did with His Rage
24. How the Sons of Sagara Were Born
25. Why the Ocean Came to Be Called Sagara
26. Why Ganga Came to Earth
27. He Who Strikes with the Axe - Vishnu’s Sixth Avatar—Parasurama
28. How Indra Prevented Drought
29. Why Indra Is Also Known as Sahasraksha
30. How the Kingdom of Anga Was Saved
31. Why Kala-Nemi Failed to Outwit Hanuman
32. How Bali Was Defeated
33. How Balarama Destroyed Two Mighty Asuras
34. What Happened When Balarama Wielded the Plough
35. How Krishna Taught Indra a Lesson
36. Why the Parijata Tree Came Down to Earth
37. How the Kauravas Were Born
38. How Agni Got His Strength Back
39. What Draupadi Did to Feed Ten Thousand Sages
40. The Killing of Kichaka
41. How the Vindhya Mountain Became a Range
42. How Agastya Killed the Rakshasas
43. How Sivi’s Generosity Was Tested
44. How the World Was Drained of Water
45. Why the Cock Crows in the Morning
46. Why the Moon Waxes and Wanes
47. Damayanti’s Swayamvara
48. How Destiny Overtook Parikshit
49. How Narmada Came Down to Earth
50. Why Yama Couldn’t Ignore Nachiketa

[Reaz Uddin Rashed · Rating 4 out of 5]

ভালো লেগেছে। ছোট ছোট মিথ, কিছু আগে জানা ছিল, কিছু নতুন। সংক্ষেপে হিন্দু পুরাণ পড়তে চাইলে এই বইটি রিকমন্ডেড করবো।

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a folklore collection meant for elementary school aged students, although it could be useful with older students to teach about different cultures or religions. This book contains folktales from India, much like Greek Mythology. Each story is a page or few pages long and discusses heroes, gods, villains, and the like. I gave this book a 5 because I thought it was unique. I had never heard the stories before. I thought they were presented and depicted beautifully. I liked the colorful illustrations in the book. I liked the layout of the text. I liked that the stories were not too long. I thought this book provided a unique collection of stories that I was unfamiliar with. Each story was engaging and interesting, perhaps because they were novel to me, but also because of the illustrations and the language usage. I think young readers will particularly like this book because of its content and illustrations. Some of the stories are not appropriate for the youngest readers, but I think elementary school aged students or middle school students will get the most out of it. I think the book does an effective job of grabbing one’s attention and holding onto it for the duration of the book. I think this book would be useful in teaching children about diversity and differences among cultures and people.

[Marikiya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Éste libro ha resultado ser un pequeño tesoro que encontré en una tienda benéfica a favor de los animales. Lo cogí con el pensamiento de mejorar mi inglés con su lectura y de paso, tener más libros sobre uno de los temas que más me gusta en el mundo: la mitología. Y la verdad es que me ha gustado mucho. Son cuentos en los que pueden aparecer ciertos paralelismos con otras cosmologías (océanos primordiales, el gran diluvio, etc.) pero muchos otros han sido totalmente originales y curiosos para mí. Tiene muchísimas ilustraciones muy trabajadas y un total de 50 historias fantásticas del hinduismo. No sabría decir cual ha sido mi cuento favorito, pero desde luego ¡¡¡Shiva FTW!! =D

[Malvika Jaswal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is definitely a first in Indian illustrated editions. the cover is beautiful and so are the gorgeous illustrations on the glossy pages within. Apart from Amar Chitra Katha's which are in the comic format, nobody else has thought to illustrate the myriad mythological tales in India in a smart new way. the illustrations themselves while very pretty are more on the darker side for me. I mean pretty seems to be the wrong word... they are dark and mysterious and not those feel good "cute" ones we are used to. Full marks for coming up with this edition to Puffin books as well.

[Vinay Leo · Rating 3 out of 5]

The disadvantage to reading mythology books back to back is that the stories repeat, and there is an inadvertent comparison between the styles of narration. I liked the stories, but the narration here felt very direct. Mythology needs a bit of magic in how it is told, and this was missing. The illustrations were beautiful though, and perhaps kids would appreciate that.

[Tejaswini Au · Rating 4 out of 5]

enchanting illustrations!

[Priya Kadapa Kadapa Shah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Last book of 2022 and read within a span of few hours.. in a beautiful seaside villa that has books of all genres strewn across, one is spoilt for choice.
On this visit, I picked up this book
The Puffin Book of Magical Indian Myths Book by Anita Nair.
Beautifully illustrated, with some fifty myths from India, some known , some unknown .
I loved the concept of the book. It’s a pleasure to delve into this rich tapestry of stories ranging from Surya, the sun god to Vamana Avtar to how the Vindhyas became a range and how the Saraswati was swallowed.
But.. in spite of this.. there’s something amiss.. the stories are not truly engaging, they are narrations not tales.. in some cases it’s a chronological summary almost . Maybe the book presupposes some previous knowledge of Indian Mythology.. but even if one does have some previous idea, I feel the writing doesn’t live up to the richness of these stories , nor the gorgeous illustrations.
Having said this, I am glad I read the book.. it is interesting and it brings back memories of childhood story time with my grandmother and I know I will be picking up more in this genre.

[Rajul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mostly tales from Ramayan and Mahabharat, which many of us are already aware of, this collection of 50 Indian stories, also has some rare unique ones like the story of Yama's leg or the vanishing of River Saraswati.

With beautiful illustrations by Atanu Roy, this book is aimed for children or pre teens but adults can enjoy as well!

Anita Nair is usually known for her crime fiction so I was surprised to find these stories were put together by her.

[LR 135 · Rating 2 out of 5]

The stories and Atanu Roy's beautiful illustrations increased my rating for this book. However I found this a lazy attempt at capturing the rich art of storytelling in India. I was also displeased at how the author referenced western encyclopedias instead of reading the original tales and doing more diligent research. There were too many stories and too little exploration of such stories. I would've preferred fewer stories but with more breadth and knowledge in the stories.

[Bengali Bookish · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book about the mythologies around the Indian sub continent. Entertaining and Informative. The translation was not that much up to mark.

[Chanel · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Leuk om een keer te lezen! Ik wist heel weinig dus dan extra leuk!

[AARNA PATEL · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book reflects the ancient Indian myths . It improve child's mythological knowledge. It really brings the things alive as we read it.