The story is set during the era of the Pallava conflict with the Chalukya king, Pulikesi.Īn analysis of the archives of Kalki magazine reveals interesting insights about how Sivagamiyin Sabatham was serialised in the 1940s and how the author managed to hold the readers’ interest week after week. Sivagamiyin Sabatham was serialised as four parts in Kalki from 1944 to 1946 – Paranjyothi Yathirai (Paranjyothi’s Journey), Kanchi Muttrugai (The Siege of Kanchi), Pisuvin Kadhal (The Monk’s Love) and Sithaintha Kanavu (The Broken Dream) – and later published as a novel in 1948. The plot of the novel revolves around the romance between Mammallar and Sivagami, a dancer. This left a deep impression on him and remained etched in his mind until, 12 years later in 1946, he finished writing Sivagamiyin Sabatham, his first major novel. Kalki was inspired to write Parthiban Kanavu and its prequel Sivagamiyin Sabatham when once sitting on the seashore in Mahabalipuram with TK Chidambaranatha Mudaliar, he saw a vision of thousands of ships and boats carrying women on one side and other people such as the architects and other characters in the novels such as Sivagami, Aayanar and Mammallar on the other side. Kalki also served as editor of the magazine, which became the launchpad for his famous historical novels such as Ponniyin Selvan, Sivagamiyin Sabatham and Parthiban Kanavu (Parthiban’s Dream), which were published as serialised stories in the weekly.

Kalki became one of the pseudonyms under which he wrote short stories and novels.

After many years of editorial experience with Tamil magazines such as Navaksakthi and Ananda Vikatan, he started the Kalki magazine in 1941 along with T Sadasivam. He is renowned for his novels such as Ponniyin Selvan (Ponni’s Son), Alai Osai (The Sound of Waves) and Thyaga Bhoomi (The Land of Sacrifice).

Tamil literature too witnessed this trend, with many of the novels by Kalki first published as serialised stories. This trend has been around since the 1840s, with some of the novels by famous writers such as Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoevsky and Charles Dickens originally published as serialised stories in magazines. Interestingly, many serialised stories have later been published as novels, again enjoying huge success. Serialised stories have always been popular with readers, who follow them with avid interest to see what twists and turns await them in the next instalment.

Sivagamiyin sabatham novel in tamil