What is "smarakasilakal"

Smarakasilakal is a Malayalam novel written by Punathil Kunjabdulla in 1977. The story of the novel is woven around a mosque and its surroundings. The key figure is Khan Bahadur Pookkoya Thangal of the rich Arakkal family whose character is a rare mixture of dignity, benevolence and insatiable lust.

Smarakasilakal is widely regarded as the author's masterpiece. Punathil said in an interview that it is his only novel and everything else that he has written subsequently is a repetition of it with some changes. The novel won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award in 1978 and Sahitya Akademi Award in 1980. As of February 2013, more than 65,000 copies of the novel have been sold.