Gopallapuram

A highway robber murders a pregnant young woman for her jewellery. He is caught and sentenced to death by impalement in Gopallapuram. A community of Telugu speakers migrates to the Tamil country to escape Muslim rule. They transform a barren land, turning it into a fertile, verdant village. A horde of bandits attempts to raid a village but is foiled by the unarmed, inventive villagers. Winner of the Sahitya Akademi Award, Ki. Rajanarayanan weaves legend, myth, history and good old-fashioned storytelling in this wonderful contemporary classic.