The Puranic Influence On Kanthapura

Abstract

After the study of Raja Rao's short stories, his novels bring a wider scope for Indian thought,
tradition and quest. ‘Kanthapura’ (1938) is Rao's first novel. It is a classic of its own kind. The influence
of India's Sanskrit classics on the writer is quite obvious. Rao has brought the Vedic-Puranic-Epic
thought and tradition in this novel. It has been written on the Puranic pattern. The way in which the
Kanthapurians worship the village-Goddess is absolutely traditional. The gathering of people near the
temple proves their unshakable faith in her. Even today, this tradition is maintained in Indian villages.
Kanthapura (1938) describes the Gandhian movement against the British rule in India. Gandhi is an
incarnation of Rama for the villagers, and the foreigners represent the ten-headed Ravana. The
Satyagrahi in prison is the divine Krishna. The novel shows the whole drama of the Gandhian revolution
mixing politics with mythology, using ancient mythological devices in order to mix up Indian folk
tradition. Gandhi is of the view that politics and religion are inseparably woven together. Kanthapura
evinces this divine truth that man's state in the society is spiritual as much as it is political. He has
employed three types of myths in his novels- (a) Puranic Myths (b) Localised Myths and (c) Rites and
Rituals. The Puranic myths pertain to the binary opposition of the good and the evil symbolized through
the character of Rama and Ravana
Key Words: Kanthapura , Puranic Myths, Localised Myths and Rites & Rituals.