Oyyarath Chandu Menon (1847-1900) is one of the pioneers of Malayalam fiction. A munsiff and later a judge at Tellicherry (
Thalassery) in erstwhile Malabar, Menon has to his credit the famous novel Indulekha. His second novel Sarada remains incomplete. Indulekha occupies a unique place among Malayalam novels, as it marked the dawn of modernity in the literature, highlighting the value of English education and the right of women to assert themselves in issues such as marriage and education.
