Kasthuri Sreenivasan Trust, in order to promote literature, is conducting ‘Tmt.Rangammal Prize’ every two years once. The novels which are published in India are considered for honoring and best novel will be selected for Tmt. Rangammal Prize, which consists of cash award, certificate and memento.
This year, KST received 40 Tamil Novels published during 2017& 2018 and out of that the novel ‘Gangapuram’ by A.Vennila, published by Agani Veliyeedu Publications was selected by the judges unanimously as the winner. The Prize Award was shared by the writer and publisher and the cash award was segregated into two parts – 80% to author and 20% to publisher.
A.Vennila commented on the experience she had while penning the book said “To know the Chola temples and temple architecture, administration, irrigation and social life I started traveling extensively from the year 2011. My travel started from Tanjore to Kancheepuram. During one such travel I went to Gangaikonda Chozhapuram. GKC was the capital of the Chola Empire for more than 250 years. But now it has no traces of the by-gone glory. It is a sleepy village which lost all its grandeur and glamour. Its past and its present condition gave raise to so many questions in my mind.
One of the questions which struck me most was ‘Why Rajendra Chola shifted his capital from Tanjore to Gangaikonda Chozapuram when Tanjore was at its height; politically and economically. I studied Rajendra Chola’s life through primary sources like copper plates and inscriptions. I was astonished to find that Rajendra Chola was not crowned as Prince and King in waiting. This is also a puzzle with Chola History.
Rajendra Chola’s belated recognition as crown prince and shifting of capital from Tanjore to Gangaikonda Chozapuram made me to travel backwards. This is the canvas, outline and framework of the novel.”