The Theme of Social Issues and Rituals in Vairamuthu’s the Saga of the Drylands

Abstract

The novel ‘The Saga of the Drylands’ written by Vairamuthu is notable among regional novels written in Tamil. It was published in 2001 and won the Sahitya Akademi Award from the Government of India in 2003. In the 1950s, when the Vaigai dam was constructed in Madurai District, 14 villages (Kallipatti, Kamakapatti, Karattupatti, Pinnadevanpatti, Vadamalai Nayakkanpatti, Savadipatti, Pasukaranpatti, Sekanuru, Metturu, Chakrapatti, Kuruviyapanpatti, Pannyanveedu) were forced to migrate from their native land. It talks painfully about the struggle of the people who depended on their soil. The story points to the lives of people who lived on the dry land of Kallikkadu. It portrays the tears, blood and pain of the villager Peya thevar, who lived on the Karisal land, which lies submerged in the Vaigai dam.  He did not have any support from God or Government. He takes care of the birth of a cow and finally ends with his death. When the projects are implemented for the common good cause also villages are destroyed due to the construction of a new dam. People faced many problems like hunger, poverty, and their future dreams. The life of the village folks who have spent all their hard work on the land, but now they are exiled from place to place where they have lived as a family for generations. This study reveals the problems and rituals found in Kallikattu.