Books · Sahitya - Literature

Pilgrim Kamanita – A Legendary Romance – by Karl Gjellerup

Karl Gjellerup

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ShrutSangam GyanBhandars JainTatvaGyanshala

Pilgrim Kamanita – A Legendary Romance. In the year 1917, the two Danish authors Karl Gjellerup and Henrik Pontoppidan shared the Nobel Prize in Literature. Karl Gjellerup is the least known but he wrote some amazing works on very diverse subjects. He wrote in German and here is a surprising work of literature he wrote on Buddhism. It is about the journey of Kamanita, an Indian merchant’s son, from earthly prosperity and carnal romance, till his meeting with a stranger monk who actually is Gautama Buddha. In Thailand, The Pilgrim Kamanita is on the school programme. The Pilgrim Kāmanīta’ was published in German in 1906, 16 years before Hermann Hesse published his somewhat similar and much more well-known novel Siddartha. This version of The Pilgrim Kamanita is published and edited by Amaro Bhikkhu as a dedication when the Amaravati Buddhist Monastery opened in 1999. Read more