‘Ponniyin Selvan I’, an epic period drama helmed by Tamil filmmaker Mani Ratnam, hit the big screens on Friday. The magnum opus is an adaptation of the historical fiction novel of the same name written by Kalki Krishnamurthy. The book was published in 1955 and is considered one of the greatest novels ever written in Tamil literature. The book is based on historical events and characters from the tenth century during the rule of the Chola kingdom. 

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Who is Kalki Krishnamurthy?

Ramaswamy Krishnamurthy, better known by his pen name Kalki, was born on September 9, 1899, in a village called Pattamangalam in the Mayiladuthurai district of Tamil Nadu.

After completing his primary education at a school in his village, Kalki joined the municipal high school in Mayavaram. He, however, dropped out of school to join the Non-Cooperation Movement.

He was imprisoned three times during freedom struggle. His book titled, ‘Moondru Matha Kadunkaval (3 months rigorous imprisonment)’, talks about life in prison.

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Literary work – 

Kalki’s first short story ‘Saradhaiyin Thanthiram’ was published in 1927. He went on to write the novels ‘Savigamiyin Sapatham’ and ‘Parthiban Kanavu’ in which he narrated the stories of the Pallava kings. In 1947, he released the novel ‘Solaimalai Ilavarasi’ which was about Independence of India. ‘Ponniyin Selvan’, his most popular novel, was published in 1955. He took three years to finish the novel, which talks about the power struggle in the Chola kingdom over who will succeed the ailing king. Kalki also translated Mahatma Gandhi’s autobiography ‘My Experiments with Truth’ into Tamil.

Family – 

Kalki Krishnamurthy’s father was Ramaswamy Aiyar, who was an accountant in Puttamangalam village. Kaldi married Rukmani in 1924 and they had two children – Kalki Rajendran and Anandi Ramachandran.

Anandi was married to freedom fighter and singer Kalki Sadasivam’s nephew Ramachandran, who was known as Ambi in music circles. Their daughter Gowri Ramanarayanan was a music critic for The Hindu newspaper.