Book Review: ‘The Forever Green Lore and Legends of Kerala’ by Sreekumari Ramachandran

Book Title: The Forever Green Lore and Legends of Kerala
Author: Sreekumari Ramachandran
Publisher: Vintage Books
Number of Pages: 400
ISBN: 978-0143475934
Date Published: Sept. 30, 2025
Price: INR 348

Book Review

Sreekumari Ramachandran’s “The Forever Green Lore and Legends of Kerala” is an ambitious attempt to gather the immense cultural, spiritual, and artistic heritage of Kerala within a single volume. Rich in information and clearly the product of meticulous research, the book offers readers an extensive survey of the region’s temples, rituals, and performance traditions. Its greatest strength lies in its scope—particularly the comprehensive documentation of Kerala’s temples, from Ananthapura Lake Temple to Ambalappuzha Sreekrishna Swami Temple. For religious travellers and cultural scholars, these detailed listings are invaluable, functioning almost as a handbook for pilgrimage and exploration.

However, the book’s emotional and narrative depth is also constrained by this encyclopedic approach. The chapters frequently jump about from one subject to another—art forms, saints, temples—without having a distinct theme that unifies them into a coherent narrative. Even while each segment offers insightful information, the text lacks introspection and sensory description, which makes it seem impersonal. The writing frequently reads like a list of cultural facts rather than engrossing the reader in the lived experience of faith and artistic expression. A sense of repetitive, AI-polished language that is fluent but lacks personality is heightened by this structural rigidity and an excessive use of standard and common adjectives.

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Instead of being an engaging literary work, “The Forever Green Lore and Legends of Kerala” is ultimately a significant cultural record. For scholars, pilgrims, and lovers of Kerala’s spiritual traditions, its abundance of information makes it a vital resource. However, as a narrative exploration of the myths and legends of the state, it is unable to capture the spirit, fervor, and energy that make Keralan culture so remarkable. Although Ramachandran’s research is admirable, the writing might have used a more intimate tone and a less robotic cadence, which would have given readers a deeper understanding of Kerala and a more authentic experience.

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