page_title: C. V. Raman Pillai
section_title: Writing career
hierarchical_section_title: C. V. Raman Pillai / Writing career
caption_attribution_description: English: CV as Edgar in King Lear
context_page_description: Cannankara Velayudhan Raman Pillai, also known as C. V., was one of the major Indian novelists and playwrights and a pioneering playwright and novelist of Malayalam literature. He was known for his historical novels such as Marthandavarma, Dharmaraja and Ramaraja Bahadur; the last mentioned considered by many as one of the greatest novels written in Malayalam.
context_section_description: Raman Pillai is compared by many with Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in Bengali and Hari Narayan Apte in Marathi, two other greats of India literature. His first published book was Chandramukhivilasam, a satire. He wrote his first novel, Marthandavarma, in 1885 but it was published in 1891. This followed sch historical novels as Dharmaraja and Ramarajabahadur, the social novel, Premamritam as well as several farces. Modern Malayalam drama traces its origins to his works. He is credited with the first original play in Malayalam,  Chandramukheevilasam, written in 1884 and was staged for four days successively in 1887 at His Highness Maharaja's College, Trivandrum.
caption: CV as Edgar in King Lear
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