[literally a type of red cloth] (1948) was Syed Waliullah’s first and most famous novel. Like his other two later novels,

 [

] (1964) and

 [

, 

, 

] (1968),

is set in rural Bengal. Eastern Bengal, now Bangladesh, is dotted with

, shrines of Muslim saints, some known, others unknown. These shrines are draped with red cloth. In the early 1940s, when Waliullah lived with his father in Mymensingh, he would often pass one such shrine and this inspired him to write

. Initially published by Comrade Publishers in Calcutta,

was subsequently published in Dhaka, East Pakistan, and continues to be published, often in a collection of his three novels, in Bangladesh.

Lal Salu narrates the story of

1653 words

Citation: Zaman, Niaz. "Lal Salu". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 February 2021 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=39288, accessed 27 November 2024.]

• View recommended reading for this article