Anandamath is a Bengali fiction, written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and published in 1882. It is inspired by and set in the background of the Sannyasi Rebellion in the late 18th century and is considered one of the most important novels in the history of Bengali and Indian literature. The book is set in the years during the famine in Bengal in 1770 CE. It starts with by introducing the readers to a couple, Mahendra and Kalyani, who are stuck at their village Padachinha without food and water in the times of famine. They decide to leave their village and move to the next closest city where there is a better chance of survival. During the course of events, the couple gets separated and Kalyani has to run through the forest with her infant to avoid getting caught by robbers. After a long chase, she loses consciousness at the bank of a river.