Vetanayakam Pillai is regarded as the first and most prominent novelists in Tamil literature. He wrote his first novel in the year 1876. Vetanayakam Pillai was very well versed in the English language and due to his good contacts with English officials of the British East India Company, the Tamil novelist, realized the significance of English novels in the society. He also knew that people read novels enthusiastically during their spare time. Pillai realised the great need for regional novels and became determined to compose novels in Tamil language. Although he was a pot himself, Vetanayakam Pillai felt that the medium of prose, instead of poetry, was a better suited for representing different ideas to the Tamil readers. He preferred to spread his vision and ideas through novels written in Tamil, as the author knew that people naturally liked interesting stories. With this objective, Vetanayakam Pillai wrote his initial novel which was titled Piratapa Mudaliar Carittiram in the year 1876. He wrote his second Tamil novel, Cukunacuntari after a decade in the year 1887.
Vetanayakam Pillai, the well known novelist in Tamil literature, created various types of characters and depicted different emotions, as well as cultural and ethical values in his two Tamil novels which contributed to a great extent to the development of Tamil literature. Pillai illustrated elaborate images of the societies and families that existed in the districts of Tiruchchirappalli and Tanjavur, through his own experiences and knowledge about these two districts in the Tamil country. Piratapa Mudaliar Carittiram, the first novel of Vetanayakam Pillai comprises of the several attributes of a standard literary novel. The work provides a detailed description about the lives associated with the families of wealthy farmers, their aspirations, interests, minor arguments as well as their cultural and social values.
The male protagonist of the novel Piratapa Mudaliar Carittiram leaves the family house as an outcome of a disagreement between his family and the family of the heroine. The rest of the story follows the adventures of the hero while he goes on a hunting expedition. In the second Tamil novel of Vetanayakam Pillai titled Cukunacuntari, the heroine of the tale gets abducted by a king. But she is able to escape and eventually takes shelter in an institution for young maidens. In the ending of the novel, the king manages to locate the female protagonist. On the other hand, one of the king`s ministers stages a rebellion and plans to overthrow the king and a long battle for power ensues in the climax.
The first novel of Vetanayakam Pillai is narrated by one of the characters in the literary work in Tamil language, while in the second novel the novelist himself narrates the tale. Both of his compositions were renowned for their concise, smart and humourous content.
