Despite the heated election situation currently ongoing, the Malayalam translation of the book – the first in an Indian language and 38th across the world - has become the subject of a scorching public debate. Already almost the entire first edition of 10,000 copies has been sold off in an extravagant pre-publication offer.
It took two Delhi-based journalists, Jomi Thomas and R. Gopikrishnan of Malayala Manorama and Mangalam, respectively, nearly 18 months to translate what is one of the world's best-selling books of all time. The novel is being published by DC books, the market leader in Kerala, and it publicly hit the shelves on May 5.
The theme of the novel, which deals with Jesus' alleged liaisons with Mary Magdalene, may well catch the attention of Kerala’s predominant Christian population, but the issue of female worship is not so shocking for the state.
“Kerala has a prolific culture of goddess worship in temples,” pointed out Thomas. “In the West, it was something believers found really enigmatic,” he said.However, some sections of the book were beyond translation. In particular, the coded couplets, ‘Draconian Devil, Oh Lame Saint’; there is no equivalent in Malayalam that can be decoded with it still giving the same meaning as the original English version, said Gopikrishnan.
Opus Die, the Catholic secret society around which the thriller unfolds, is rumoured to have a foothold in Kerala.
The depiction of Jesus in fiction has been a constant irritant for the church in Kerala, but this time the Catholic Church, unlike on earlier occasions, is not likely to demand a ban on the book.
“The book has been in circulation around the world. The Church will only reiterate that it is a mere work of fiction,” affirmed Fr. Babu Joseph, spokesperson of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI).
[Editor's Note: Verghese K. George reported from New Delhi, India for this article]
Verghese K. George
Christian Today Correspondent
