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The first book of the Shiva Trilogy series by Amish Tripathi, Immortals of Meluha, has received a broadly positive response not only from readers but also from critics. This work of mytho-fiction uses fictional settings and incidences to bring to us a new perspective of the revered Lord Shiva. Shiva is probably the most fascinating among the Indian gods, loved as much as feared by his devotees. Meluha is among the most probable names used in ancient times for the Indus Valley Civilisation.

 

About Immortals of Meluha

Set in 1900 BC, the book revolves around the people of Meluha, who do not age with time and live for hundreds of years. Immortals of Meluha chronicles the rise of Shiva, who transforms from a Tibetan tribal leader to the Guardian Angel of the Suryavanshis. On realizing that his empire is under great threat from the  Chandravanshis, the king of Meluha calls upon a Tibetan tribe to help fight the enemies. The tribe, lead by the fearless warrior Shiva, has to confront the Nagas, a group of heinous and deformed people who are masters at martial arts. The people of Meluha have great hopes from Shiva and come to believe that he is Lord Shiva.

 

Shiva, the fearsome warrior and consummate dancer, becomes the fabled Neelkanth saviourof the Suryavanshi way of life. In the quest to fulfil his destiny, Shiva makes friends, falls in love and antagonizes people by his unconventional outlook and methods. Read about how he is helped and guided by mysterious figures in the intriguing book Immortals of Meluha.

 

About Amish Tripathi, the Author of Immortals of Meluha

Born in 1974, Amish Tripathi is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata (IIM-K) and has 14 years of experience in the financial services industry. According to Amish, he was a bored banker. He soon took the spiritual route and read extensively on Indian mythology, different societies and philosophies. Amish Tripathi was intrigued by what is considered evil and the presence of this within every man. For instance, the word ‘Devas’ is used by the people of Turkey to refer evil, whereas in India this word symbolises god. Similar was the case with the word Asuras. Amish Tripathi found his calling in writing and decided to write about evil. He realized, however, that such writing may not be popular, and consequently turned to the destroyers of evil in Indian mythology. In this realm, who best to write about than Lord Shiva? In Amish’s view, the gods of Indian mythology are not figments of rich imagination, but were humans who did larger-than-life acts.

 

Amish authored two more books in the same series - The Secret of the Nagas and Oath of the Vayuputras. These books, along with Immortals of Meluha form the Shiva Trilogy. Amish married to Preeti Vyas and has a son named Neel Tripathi.

 

Popularity of Immortals of Meluha

Seeing the huge commercial success of Immortals of Meluha, it seems difficult to believe that almost 40 publication houses rejected the manuscript. Finally, the book was published in February 2010; and in less than six months it had sold around 45,000 copies across India. By October 2013, more than two million copies were sold of the Shiva Trilogy, which became the fastest selling book series in the history of Indian publishing.

 

Immortals of Meluha is definitely a page turner and a must read. The book has a little bit of history, fantasy and mythology, all written in a very easy style. People have found the book to be captivating and have found it difficult to put it down once they start reading.