Top 5 Gujarati Novels of All Time

As gujarati literature is too rich and full of contents. So many respected authors like Kanaiyalal Munsi, Nandshankar Mehta, Ishwarbhai Petlikar etc have wrote better contents.

Here we have reviewed some of the Gujarati Novels.

Karanghelo

Karanghelo is the First Gujrati Novel written by Nandshankar Mehta. It was written in 1866. The book was translated in English in 2015.It has older Gujarati Pattern of Writing. You may find it to difficult in understanding some words.

The novel depicts Karan, the last Vaghela ruler of Gujarat (c. 1296–1305) who was defeated by the Turkish forces of Allauddin Khilji in 1298. The novel was written for educational purpose. It was based on variety of historical sources but author took liberty in depiction of some incidents. The novel deals with social as well as religious issues.

Janamtip

It was written in 1944. it has story related to Social Life of Rural Culture at that time.

‘Chanda’ a brave girl is an important character of this novel. This Novel was published in ‘Praja Bandhu’ Magazine. It was popular story at that time.

Patan Ni Prabhuta

‘Patan ni Prabhuta’ is a good read option for Gujarati Novel Lovers. Author Kanaiyalal Munshi has written this novel. Glory of Patan is main theme of this novel ‘Minal Devi’, ‘Anandsuri’, Karandev, Munjal etc are interesting characters of this novel.

Patan trilogy consists of three Gujarati historical novels written by Indian writer Kanaiyalal Maneklal Munshi. These three novels are Patan Ni Prabhuta, Gujarat No Nath and Rajadhiraj . Written in chronological order, though having separate stories, the trilogy deals with the Solanki rule in Gujarat.

Malela Jiv

Malela Jiv a famous novel by Pannalal Patel. It is a love story. Main characters are Kanji and Jivi. Both are from different cast. It is a world class Novel from Gujarati Literature.

Kanji and Jivi live in Jogipara and Udharia villages near Idar and they belong to different castes. They met each other at the Janmashtami fair and fell in love. They were unable to marry due to coming from different castes. Kanji also has the social responsibility of his elder brother’s family.

But he finds it difficult to live without Jivi. His friend Hiro suggests having Jivi marry Dhula, the barber in their own village. After a great psychological struggle, Kanji agrees with Hira and get Jivi married to Dhula. But his plan does not bring the expected result. Dhula’s suspicious nature, his tyranny, and his poor treatment of Jivi causes Kanji’s plan to be unsuccessful. Kanji’s God-fearing nature and his indecisive mental state also play a role in his failure. Kanji moves from the village to the city to keep himself away from Jivi. Jivi, meanwhile, is tired of the daily quarrels and beatings and tries to commit suicide.

But, by mistake, her tyrannical husband Dhulo loses his life and she falls into an emotional imbalance, yearning for her beloved Kanji. In the end Kanji’s worldly love transformed into a spiritual love, and so he comes from the city to be with Jivi.

Manvi Ni Bhavai

This novel is also written by Pannalal Patel. There are two main characters ‘Kalu’ and ‘Raji’ in this novel.

This novel also contains the various festival celebrations in Rural Gujarat. Author explained ‘Poor situation of Farmer in villages’ very well. This novel is award winning Novel. This novel was selected for ‘Gyanpith award’ in 1985.