Folktales of Lakshadweep : The Angel of Death
(5)
Author:
Vasanti Sankaranarayanan, M. MullakoyaPublisher:
Sahitya AkademiLanguage:
EnglishCategory:
Short-story-collections₹
100
₹ 83 (17% off)
Unavailable
Ships within 48 Hours
Free Shipping in India on orders above Rs. 1100
The glory of nature manifests itself in the beauty of mountains, oceans, and islands. A beauteous constellation of rare coral islands blesses Bharat. The best gift is the group called Lakshadweep, which is too lovely for poetry or painting and too heavenly for patriotic idolatry of geography or imaginative bounty of geology. This book covers some folktales from such a beautiful place. You would not like this to be missed.
Read moreAbout the Book
The glory of nature manifests itself in the beauty of mountains, oceans, and islands. A beauteous constellation of rare coral islands blesses Bharat. The best gift is the group called Lakshadweep, which is too lovely for poetry or painting and too heavenly for patriotic idolatry of geography or imaginative bounty of geology. This book covers some folktales from such a beautiful place. You would not like this to be missed.
Book Details
-
ISBN9789389195583
-
Pages76
-
Avg Reading Time3 hrs
-
Age18+ yrs
-
Country of OriginIndia
Recommended For You
Agneyam
- Author Name:
P. Vatsala +1
- Book Type:

- Description:
Agneyam tells the story of Nangema, a Namboodiri woman forced to leave her native home in Palghat due to poverty. She journeys alone through the perilous paths of Wayanad and creates a life for herself and her family in that wild land. She was a real person, not a figment of Vatsala's imagination. Living in Wayanad, she carved out a life for herself, but as events unfolded, she returned to her native Palghat, stayed with her daughter, and died peacefully. Vatsala knew her intimately and was inspired to write her exhilarating and tragic life story as a novel, "AGNEYAM." Vatsala is one of Kerala's leading women writers. Through her, the real Nangema becomes an artistic marvel - a woman born into luxury but falling into poverty; brave enough to change her life by moving to Wayanad, working as a cook, running a small shop, and eventually owning and cultivating land. An independent and courageous woman, aided by the untamed land. This is their story. But it is also the story of the Kurichia bonded labourers, the original landowners, and their helpless, fearful, and impoverished existence. Vatsala crafts this story in her unique, feminine, compassionate, lyrical language, writing with complete empathy for her protagonist. The result is a significant literary work from a historical, sociological, and literary perspective, always emphasising the woman's point of view. Vatsala has authored many novels and short stories, but this novel stands out for its lyrical language and powerful depiction of an independent woman. The translator, Vasanthi Sankaranarayanan, is a student of literature, cinema, theater, and dance. Her doctoral dissertation focuses on "Malayalam Cinema, Society and Politics of Kerala. " As a native of Kerala with a deep interest in Malayalam literature and women's studies, this is her third translation of a Malayalam novel- her previous works being "Agnisakshi" by late Lalithambika Antarjanam and "Brashtu" by Matampu Kunhukuttan.
Mizo Songs and Folk Tales
- Author Name:
Laltluangliana Khiangte
- Book Type:

- Description:
The dialects and languages spoken by tribals in India are very large in number. The literary compositions in most of them have survived in oral form though some tribal languages have taken to writing as means of recording literary compositions. Conventionally, they have been perceived as mere anthropological curiosity, or at best a source for oral history. They have rarely been translated into English or an Indian language as a representation of tribal imagination. In order to meet the long felt need for brining out a systematic series of India's tribal literature, sahitya Akademi has established a project of Indian Literature in Tribal Languages and Oral Traditions.
History of Marathi Literature
- Author Name:
Kusumawati Deshpande +1
- Book Type:

- Description:
Marathi has an unbroken literary tradition of over eight centuries, divided conveniently into two distinct periods, classical and modern. The Classical period spans six centuries, remarkable for poetry, devotional and heroic. Jnandev, Namdev, Eknath, Tukaram and Ramdas have become household names throughout India. While Virasaiva, Jain, and Muslim poets have enriched the secular and spiritual content, wandering minstrels have sung heroic ballads. New forms of literature have flowered from the nineteenth century under the impact of English education and western thought. The Chiplunkar, Apte, Anil Despande, Phadke, Khandekar, Mardhekar, Rege and Gadgil. Tracing the earliest reference to Maharashtra in a rock inscription of the fourth century, the history concludes with the formation of the state in 1960.
ONCE UPON A TIME
- Author Name:
A Sethumadhavan +1
- Book Type:

- Description:
Once Upon a time by A. Sethumadhavan, is a novel which surrounds priyamvada, who is an HR professional, and a single parent at the centre of its narrative. The strong undercurrent of this award-winning title is the way woman asserts her independence and deft strokes in the book suggest how a professional woman scores. The novel very beautifully depicts the personal journey of a single parent, where are dilemmas which priyamvada faces, doing a tightrope walk between the labor force and the managements, trying to fill the vacuum in her daughter’s life and consciously attempting to steady her own emotional moorings.
Contemporary Kashmiri Short Stories
- Author Name:
Hriday Kaul Bharati +1
- Book Type:

- Description:
The Kashmiri short story was born with the progressive movement in Kashmir and its acceptted the standards and values dictated by the movement unquesioningly. Nationalism and the desire for reaching out to people inspired most of the writers to switch over to Kashmiri, even though they had strated writing in Urdu. Dinanath Nadim's Javabi Card (Reply-Card) and Somnath Zutshi's Yell Phol Gash (when there was light) are the first two short stories written in Kashmiri
Epochal Voices
- Author Name:
Murari Madhusudan Thakur
- Book Type:

- Description:
A comparison of the lives and writing of Devkota and Nirala by Murari Madhusudan Thakur. Sahitya Akademi Award 2021
Syana
- Author Name:
Anirudh Umat +1
- Book Type:

- Description:
सारे ऊँट चलने के लिए खड़े थे। पर एक ऊँट बैठा था। खड़ा ही नहीं हो रहा था। उसके पास भीड़ बढ़ती जा रही थी। एक बुजुर्ग ने ऊँट की आँखों को देखा और कहा, "ऊँट को ज़िद चढ़ गई है।"
Adoration of the Ancients
- Author Name:
Ravichnadra P. Chittampalli +1
- Book Type:

- Description:
Adorations of the Ancients offers a complete English translation of all 19 stories from Vaddaradhane in a single volume. These stories represent the earliest prose in 10th-century Halagannada. Initially, they seem to be highly religious, emphasising ethics and morality aligned with the Jain tradition. However, as creative works, they function on multiple levels: realistic, mythical, fantastic, quasi-historical, worldly, monarchical, economic, and socio-cultural. The characters are consistently portrayed within various economic classes and, interestingly, rarely within caste groups. Women characters are depicted as strong and decisive. This translation is based on R.L. Anantharamaiah’s edition of Shivakotyacharya’s Vaddaradhane. It aims to balance the limitations and scope of equivalents and approximations, making the reading experience enjoyable while maintaining scholarly interest.
Tales of Tomorrow
- Author Name:
Rana Nayar
- Book Type:

- Description:
Tales of Tomorrow is a fascinating, engaging mix of both old and young storytellers, guided by the brief that 'tomorrow' always leaps out of the ubiquitous womb of 'yesterday'. Chosen from among a vast array of short fiction that the ever-burgeoning Indian English has yielded over the past thirty years or more, Tales of Tomorrow endorses as well as interrogates the notion of Indianness, as it is often understood today. Some of these stories overpower us with the urgency of an insiders' view, while others tantalise us with a double vision of an 'insider-outsider', capturing all hues of the hydra- headed Indian reality. The collection reveals a new vibrant face of India, poised delicately on the edge of change and renewal. Drawn from different geographical regions, and representing the literary spirit, folk idiom and local culture of each, these stories authenticate a medley of bold, confident voices that are likely to resonate much longer than we may have imagined.
The Best Stories of Mohapatra Nilamani Sahoo
- Author Name:
Guruprasad Mohapatra +1
- Book Type:

- Description:
The Best Stories of Mohapatra Nilamani Sahoo: This book is a translation of Mohapatra Nilamani Sahoo's short stories, written in his inimitable style. The stories, originally written in Odia, were truly representative of Odia culture and traditions; the narrative is unique and deeply emotional and carries the readers with the flow. This volume is a specimen of Mohapatra Nilamani Sahoo's short stories for the wider readership
THE CHARIOT
- Author Name:
Raghavendra Patil +1
- Book Type:

- Description:
Raghavendra Patil (b.1951) belongs to the postmodernist group of writers in Kannada. Like his predecessors, U.R. Anantamurthy, Yahvant Chittal, Tejasvi and Shantinath Desai, he arrived at the novel through the short story. The Chariot (Teru), which won him the Sahitya Akademi Award, is his second novel. Though Patil belongs to the postmodern era, he does not share the thematic concerns or techniques of Western postmodernism. He is closer to the nativistic movement, which has already produced major writers like Chandrasekhar Kambar and Kum. Veerabhadrappa. He has also inherited some of the qualities of his famous uncle Anandakanda, such as an interest in local history and closeness to rural life. The story that Patil tells in The Chariot spans more than a hundred and fifty years, beginning with the years when the Peshva extended his rule to North Karnataka and ending with the years after the Emergency, and it relates to the Belagavi region, with its epicentre in an imagined but fully realised village named Dharamanatti. The novel offers two images of Teru, which in Kannada means both the chariot and the festival associated with it. The first is centred on an atrocious human sacrifice made in the name of religion by an autocratic ruler, and the second, distanced in time by a century and a half, mirrors the change from the feudal order to a democratic one, where religious superstition and feudal practices have been replaced by scepticism and the politics of power. The novel is remarkable for its innovative technique, which handles myth and reality with equal success.
MAYIL WILL NOT BE QUIET
- Author Name:
Niveditha Subramaniam +1
- Book Type:

- Description:
Introducing Mayil Ganeshan, a lively 12-year-old who finally has the opportunity to express herself fully in her diary. This is a significant step towards achieving her goal of becoming a writer, as she hopes to make up for all the unfinished stories and the aimless novel she had written before. In her diary, Mayil shares a spontaneous, sensitive, honest, intimate, and often humorous account of her life and thoughts as a perceptive young girl going through the ups and downs of adolescence. This coming-of-age book is a must-read, with enough humor, heart, and wisdom to entertain and inspire readers of all ages. Age 10+
Worlds First Book On Haiku Poetry
- Author Name:
Carlos Luis
- Book Type:

- Description:
Haiku is a very short form of Japanese poetry consisting of 17 syllables arranged in three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables respectively. But against all odds, this is a collection of feelings written in three lines. An economical masterpiece that Trades you through realities of life; speaking of love, relationships, paradoxes in life, you name it you have it in here.
Bombay Ducks, Bombay Docks
- Author Name:
Fleur D’Souza +1
- Book Type:

- Description:
It is raining and there is not much one can do outdoors. Come and listen to Aajis story about the Kolis, the original inhabitants of Bombay, their favourite fish Bombay Duck and the citys magnificent docks.Written by Fleur D’Souza and Illustrated by Kripa.
Who Clicked That Pic
- Author Name:
Nandita da Cunha +1
- Book Type:

- Description:
नंदिता की कहानी भारत के सबसे प्रसिद्ध फोटोग्राफर, होमाई व्यारवाला के जीवन का जश्न मनाती है। होमाई का साहस और शिल्प कौशल पुस्तक में खूबसूरती से सामने आता है। प्रिया कुरियन के चित्रण होमाई की कार्यशैली को इतनी सटीकता से बनाए रखते हैं कि कभी-कभी ऐसा लगता है मानो होमाई ने ही पुस्तक का चित्रण किया हो। शिल्प और जीवन के बीच निरंतर बदलाव पाठकों को रंगमंच की जीवंतता की याद दिलाता है। किताब हिंदी और अंग्रेजी दोनों भाषाओं में उपलब्ध है।
Selected Readings of Sri Ramanuja
- Author Name:
S Ranganath
- Book Type:

- Description:
Selected Readings of Sri Ramanuja: Sri Ramanujacharya is one of the three great acharyas whose Sahasramanotsava was recently celebrated with joy and grandeur. His efforts to uplift the poor and oppressed are remarkable. Over his 120-year life, he authored numerous works to inspire devotion in the masses by emphasising the concept of Saranagati or Prapatti (self-surrender to God). Scholars from both Eastern and Western traditions, including Swami Vivekananda and Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, as well as Goethe and Ninian Smart, have honoured Ramanuja with high praise. His altruistic service, compassion, and love for the uneducated and impoverished remain relevant today. This book, in 25 chapters, explores the influence of the Vishishtadvaita philosophy within Indian tradition, organised into three sections: Predecessors of Ramanuja, Ramanuja himself, and his Successors. The final chapter discusses Ramanuja's enduring significance for the 21st century, offering a comprehensive overview of his contributions to Indian thought.
The Fourth Friend
- Author Name:
Manoj Das
- Book Type:

- Description:
It was evening. The three village lads had just witnessed the miracle of their life, a movie courtesy of a touring enterprise, when, on their homeward journey, another strange experience engulfed them in the form of a flash flood, pushing them up to two entangled trees. Dawn breaks and the three friends are joined by an unusual, awful, gentle companion who becomes their new friend. Amazing and amusing, The Fourth Friend is a beautiful gift from one of India's best-loved storytellers.
A Journey
- Author Name:
Jagdish joshi
- Book Type:

- Description:
A book by Jagdish Joshi and translated by Kanchan Wanchoo Sharma.
Monasticism and Devotion to God
- Author Name:
Suhail Ahmad Farooqi +1
- Book Type:

- Description:
Tanqidi aur Taqaabuli Mutaalena is the first of its kind in Urdu Language where tasawwuf and bhakti have been dealt with simultaneously, and that too in the real perspective of both trends. It reveals, in nutshell, that there may be apparent similsarities among tasawwuf , mysticism or surrealism and bhakti but they all have different concepts or no concept of God. Therefore, they are not one and the same indeed. However, all the three spritual courses emphasize on benevolence and doing good to humanity and rendering service Tanqidi aur Taqaabuli Mutaalena is the first of its kind in the Urdu language where tasawwuf and bhakti have been dealt with simultaneously, and that too in the real perspective of both trends. It reveals, in a nutshell, that there may be apparent similarities among tasawwuf, mysticism or surrealism, and bhakti, but they all have different concepts or no concept of God. Therefore, they are not the same, indeed. However, all three spiritual courses emphasise benevolence doing good to humanity and rendering service to the creatures of God. An attempt has also been made to find out the similarities and differences between the oneness of God (Tauheed) and Vedic monotheism on one hand and wahdatulwujud (unit of existence) and wahdatushshuhud (unity of divine manifestation) on the other, to the creatures of God. An attempt has also been made to find out similarities and differences between the oneness of God (Tauheed) and Vedic monotheism on one hand and wahadatulwujud (unit of existence) and wahdatushshuhud (unity of divine manifestation) on the other.
In the Land Where Beetles Rule
- Author Name:
Suniti Namjoshi +1
- Book Type:

- Description:
What would happen if the beetles were in charge?Or if fish ruled the world? This fantastical poem offers a powerful glimpse into world where nature comes first.A beauty story written by Suniti Namjoshi and illustrated by krishna bala shenoi
Customer Reviews
Be the first to write a review...
4 out of 5
Book
Folktales of Lakshadweep: The Angel of Death preserves oral narratives from one of India's most geographically remote territories—a cluster of coral atolls in the Arabian Sea where isolation has kept storytelling traditions remarkably intact. Published by Sahitya Akademi, this collection brings to print folk narratives shaped by oceanic life, Islamic cultural influences, and the ecological fragility of islands where land itself is scarce. Unlike mainland Indian folklore documented in multiple volumes, Lakshadweep's oral heritage has received minimal literary attention, making this gathering significant for cultural preservation.
The stories explore mortality, divine intervention, natural forces, and the relationship between human communities and the sea that sustains and threatens them. Readers encounter a narrative landscape where the ocean is both provider and annihilator, where folk Islam mingles with pre-Islamic animist traces, and where the Angel of Death referenced in the title becomes a recurring presence in tales of survival, loss, and faith. The collection offers a rare window into how storytelling adapts when geography confines communities to small land masses surrounded by infinite water.
What kind of reading experience does Folktales of Lakshadweep offer?
This collection delivers the cadence of oral storytelling preserved in text—episodic, often sparse, with the economy of language typical of narratives passed between generations on isolated islands. The tone shifts between wonder and fatalism, reflecting a worldview shaped by oceanic unpredictability. Expect stories that end abruptly, favour moral instruction over psychological depth, and centre communal values over individual heroism. The reading pace is unhurried, rewarding those who listen for what silence and restraint communicate about life in a place where survival depends on collective memory and environmental attunement.
Who should read this book and what background does it require?
- Readers interested in regional Indian folklore beyond the widely documented traditions of the mainland
- Those studying how geography shapes narrative forms—island isolation produces distinct storytelling structures
- Collectors of folk literature seeking under-represented oral traditions from minority linguistic communities
- Researchers of oceanic cultures and how coastal communities mythologize their relationship with the sea
- No specialized knowledge required, though familiarity with Islamic eschatology enriches understanding of mortality themes
Why are Lakshadweep folktales culturally significant to Indian readers today?
Lakshadweep remains India's smallest union territory by population and one of its most climatically vulnerable—rising sea levels threaten the very existence of these low-lying atolls. These folktales document a cultural heritage at environmental risk, preserving cosmologies, social structures, and ecological knowledge that may not survive another generation without documentation. For mainland Indian readers, they reveal how different India's imaginative landscape becomes when land is scarce, the ocean omnipresent, and cultural influences arrive by sea from Arabia, East Africa, and Southeast Asia rather than overland from the subcontinent's heartland.
What makes this collection distinctive from other Indian folklore anthologies?
Unlike the voluminous collections from linguistically dominant regions, this gathers oral narratives from a community of fewer than 70,000 people speaking Malayalam and Dhivehi dialects across scattered islands. The stories reflect an Islamic folk cosmology rarely foregrounded in Indian folklore publishing, which tends toward Hindu mythological frameworks. The oceanic setting produces narrative motifs—shipwrecks, vanished sailors, sea spirits, divine rescue from drowning—that distinguish it sharply from agrarian or forest-based folk traditions. Sahitya Akademi's ethnographic approach preserves regional specificity rather than smoothing stories into pan-Indian narrative conventions.
What does this collection leave with readers after finishing it?
- A visceral sense of how geography constrains and shapes imagination—stories bounded by reef, lagoon, and horizon
- Recognition that Indian cultural diversity extends beyond language to fundamentally different environmental relationships
- Awareness of mortality as a communal rather than individual concern in close-knit island societies
- Appreciation for oral traditions that encode survival knowledge, navigational lore, and social cohesion strategies
- Urgency about preserving cultural heritage from territories facing existential climate threats