The Unlit Lamps

‘The Unlit Lamps’ is a historical fiction focusing on a tragic incident that happened during the reign of Tipu Sultan. The incident happened when the prominent ministers belonging to the Vaishnavite community of ‘Mandyam Iyengars’ conspired with the British to overthrow Tipu Sultan and restore the kingdom of Mysore State to Hindu kings. Exposure of the conspiracy before it could be hatched invited the ire of the king and a massacre of many civilians of the community along with the ministers on the first day of Diwali resulted in the cultural practice of not lighting the lamps on the first day of the festival; a practice continuing from over two hundred years. The boo traces the roots of the community established by the saint Sri Ramanujacharya at Melkote, the conspiracy and the victimization. The sane voices of the commoners who witnessed these historical events are the main characters of the book.