Many Sandalwood celebrities announced the release of the book, Enigmas of Karnataka, written by film critic S Shyam Prasad. The book was released over the weekend and is not about films. But the support of the film celebrities made it special. Sumalatha Ambareesh, Jaggesh, Sudeep, Rakshit Shetty, Kishore, Ninasam Sathish, Sharan, Ragini Dwivedi, Naveen Krishna, Haripriya, Aindrita Raj, Sukrata Wagle, Harshika Poonacha, Sruthi Hariharan, Kishan, Shanvi Srivatsa and Akul Balaji 'released' the book in a 'virtual book launch'. Many directors and other film personalities like Simple Suni, Hemanth Rao, Chaitanya, Prashanth Raj, Raghuram, Gaurish Akki, PC Shekar and Shylaja Nag also released the book with their tweets and Facebook posts. The trailer of the book was released. The voiceover for the trailer was given by senior actor Ramesh Aravind. The video is designed by Sri Crazymindz.
The book is about mysteries in Karnataka's history. The back cover of the book says, "Did the illustrious Hoysala king, Vishnuvardhana, create a fictional tale about his dynasty's founder? Is Bengaluru's Kadlekai Parishe a wholly British invention with no roots to the City's founding years? Acutely aware of their inferior status in the royal hierarchy, did the Wodeyars use the origin stories they had fabricated two centuries earlier to enter into matrimonial alliances in north India? Is the greatest icon of temple-building in Karnataka, Jakanacharai, a mere legend? Did Ramanuja, the famed Vishishtadvaita philosopher, order the disfigurement of the Gommateshwara statue to achieve narrow religious ends?
The construct of Indian history is embellished with its fair share of assumptions and glaring omission of facts; much of it infused with bias. To add to the conundrum, many a time, our forebears in Karnataka devised their own version of events that were often steeped in legend. This propensity for myth-making tossed accuracy into a grey area, which gave birth to a wealth of enigmas in its wake.
Backed by insights from esteemed scholars, this book aims to separate fiction from fact. Unlock the hidden truths behind hoary myths and legends shrouded in the mists of time. The reality of history as you know it will stagger you."
S Shyam Prasad is a journalist with the Bangalore Mirror newspaper working as the Assistant Editor. Earlier he has written dialogues for two Kannada films. He regularly writes reviews about new Kannada releases. He is also a legal correspondent who reports about legal issues.
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