Malgudi

Malgudi
First appearanceSwami and Friends (1935)
Created byR. K. Narayan
In-universe information
TypeTown
LocationKarnataka
CountryIndia

Malgudi (/mɑːlɡʊdɪ/) is a fictional town located in Agumbe situated in the Shivamogga district of the Indian state of Karnataka in the novels and short stories of R. K. Narayan. It forms the setting for most of Narayan's works. Starting with his first novel, Swami and Friends, all but one of his fifteen novels and most of his short stories take place here. Malgudi was a portmanteau of two Bengaluru localities - Malleshwara and Basavana Gudi.

Narayan has successfully portrayed Malgudi as a microcosm of India. Malgudi was created, as mentioned in Malgudi Days, by Sir Fredrick Lawley, a fictional British Raj British officer in the 19th century by combining and developing a few villages. The character of Sir Fredrick Lawley may have been based on Arthur Lawley, the Governor of Madras in 1905.[1] But now MP of Shimoga (Lok Sabha constituency) has requested Indian Railways to rename Arasalu Railway Station a small station on Shimoga-Talaguppa railway line to Malgudi Railway station. Swami and friends also seems to have taken place during the swadeshi and boycott movement against British

  1. ^ Narayan, R.K. (1956). Lawley Road and other stories. Madras: Orient Paperbacks. ISBN 0882530623.