A review of the book Immortals of Meluha which is the first book of the Shiva Trilogy by author Amish Tripathi

1. Immortals of Meluha – Book
Review
Good Tastes Club
Feb 2013

2. Video - Trilogy

3. Introduction – Trilogy
• Immortals of Meluha is the first book of the Shiva Trilogy
• The book is based in ancient India in 1900 BC which is
towards latter part of the Indus Valley Civilization
• There are two other books with the second part called The
Secret of the Nagas which was published in 2011
• The last book is called The Oath of the Vayuputras which is
due for release on Feb 27th, 2013

4. Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC)
• Bronze Age Civilisation between 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE
• Is the worlds largest known ancient civilisation spread over 1.25 M sq kms
• Harappa, Lothal, Mohenjo-Daro and Dholavira were the largest cities
• IVC cities are famous for the use of brick, multi storied houses, use of
wheel and other transportation techniques and their understanding of
science and technology
• Another important aspect is their use of complicated drainage systems
and significance of water in their lives

5. IVC Continued
• The people of IVC were familiar with boats and sails and appear to
have travelled afar by sea as well
• Ancient texts suggest that the Sumerian name for IVC was Meluha
and there existed trading links between the 2 famous civilisations
• Some historians even argue that IVC morphed into what we call
the Vedic civilisation with the start of the Iron Age instead of what
conventional history says
• The IVC text is yet to be deciphered which makes the civilisation as
mysterious as ever

6. Basic premise of the book
• The book is the story of a perfect society of Meluha which is going
through turmoil and its very existence is threatened
• The people believe in the legend of the Neelkanth, the destroyer of evil
who will come and destroy evil
• The Neelkanth will be identified when he drinks Somras – the drink of the
gods and his throat will turn blue in colour
• The central character of the book is Shiva, a tribal chief from Tibet who is
an immigrant to Meluha.
• Shiva is the person whose throat turns blue when he drinks the Somras

7. Basic premise continued
• Shiva seems to be an unwilling Neelkanth at first and seems to be
searching for his own destiny
• The perfection of Meluha and love of their people drives him to
help them more as a warrior than a God
• As his quest continues Shiva delves further into the land to try and
understand about the fight against evil that he has been chosen for
• At the end of the first book Shiva is still searching for many
answers that will explain his destiny

8. Complicated Book?
• Book on God but as a human – Surely will upset the
religious
• Are younger readers really interested in mythology or
spirituality that this book deals with?
• A fictional book based in 1900 BCE is surely of no
interest to historians either
• Who is this book appealing to?

9. Conceptual framework
• Authors interpretation of Man, Karma, Myths and the Mahadev
• The belief that who we call Gods were actually men in flesh and
bones but achieved super human status due to their deeds – their
karma
• Mahadev or the God of Gods is the person who destroys evil at its
peak
• This book is about the second Mahadev, a man called Shiva who
comes to India from the shores of the Mansarovar Lake

10. Perfect cocktail?
• Treating of mythology as a jumbled memory of a true past
• Re-interpreting concepts like Somras, Caste system and Karma
• Providing an interesting idea on the drainage system of IVC and
giving new perspective to history
• Humanisation of Shiva by describing his affection for dance and
smoking
• Elevation of a human to super human status because of his deeds
and deeds only

11. Criticism of the book
• Some critics believe that the story loses focus
along the way
• Usage of jokes with an English concept in an
Indian content
• Infusing of IVC and the Vedic period

12. About the Author
• The author is Amish Tripathi an IIM Kolkatta graduate and ex
banker
• Gave up his self proclaimed “boring banker” career to take up
writing full time.
• The Shiva Trilogy has since become a bestseller having sold more
than a million copies and translated in various languages
• Unique book in terms of the marketing strategy across the Internet
in general and social media in particular

13. Innovative marketing

14. Similarities to Da Vinci Code
• Concept of a man in flesh and bones now elevated to
the status of God
• The trials and tribulations of this person as he searches
for his true calling
• Effective mix of history, mythology and spirituality
• Walking a tight rope on religious sentiments

15. Further reading
• http://shivatrilogy.com
• Underworld by Graham Hancock
• Alternate versions of Indian history
• Legend of Lemuria and Kumari Kandam

16. Thank You