Devdutt Pattanaik on his books: I’m a mythologist, not a litterateur

At an event in Delhi, Devdutt Pattanaik, who published My Hanuman Chalisa earlier this year, spoke about the book and the difficulty of translating Awadhi.

Author Devdutt Pattanaik, known for writing mythological books, said he considers himself a mythologist and not a litterateur.

Apart from providing simple translation of every verse from Hanuman Chalisa, Pattanaik’s book also presents his understanding of these verses and insights into the situations under which they were originally penned. (HT Photo)

“I am not an expert in literature to claim myself as a litterateur. And neither I am a ‘bhakt’ (religious person). I am a mythologist who has got interest in the Vedas and Upanishads, ancient idols and sculptures and attempts to take these stories to the masses,” Pattanaik said at the Sahitya Aaj Tak – a three-day Hindi Literature Festival – here on Sunday.

The author, who earlier penned the much-acclaimed My Gita, released My Hanuman Chalisa this year. Speaking about his experience of writing the book, he said it was difficult for him to understand the Awadhi language and he had to take help from his college professors.

“Awadhi is a very complex language and its meanings are very difficult to interpret. Before writing this book, I had to read three to four translation works on Hanuman. Another reason for writing this book was that I wanted everyone to read about Hanuman Chalisa which has earlier been limited only to the Brahmins,” Pattanaik said.

Apart from providing simple translation of every verse from Hanuman Chalisa, Pattanaik’s book also presents his understanding of these verses and insights into the situations under which they were originally penned.

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