An Effective Use of Myths in Kanthapura:
In Kanthapura, Raja Rao has made effective use of myths. He has used myths to glorify the present and to impart to the novel the dignity and status of an epic. By the use of myths the novelist has enriched the texture of his novel and imparted to it a rare expansiveness, elevation and dignity. Kanthapura is a larger attempt at creating sthala - purana, i.e., a legendary tale of a specific locality. In this tale Moorthy is presented as a figure much above the common run to men. A dedicated, selfless soul, he is idealised to the extent of being regarded as a local Mahatma.
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| Raja Rao’s using myths in Kanthapura to Enrich Novel’s Texture |
Myths and Realities:
In Kanthapura, the novelist gets its narration narrated by an old woman to a hypothetical listener. Making this old woman (Achakka) the narrator enables Raja Rao to mingle facts and myths in an effective manner. Achakka has a wonderful capacity to associate myths with plain realities. Mahatma Gandhi was a simple man who put forward a simple plan for getting Swarajya for our motherland. But Achakka makes him a mythical figure. Jayaramchar told the people in one Harikatha that one day Brahma, the self - created one was sitting on his serpent when the sage Valmiki came to him. He told him that his chief daughter, Bharata (India), the goddess of wisdom and well - being, was in great danger. Men had come from across the seas and had put her in chains. The sage prayed to Brahma to send one of the gods there to bring back light and plent to his enslaved daughter. Brahma decided that Siva himself will go and incarnate on the earth and free his beloved daughter from her enforced slavery. Thus Siva took birth a Gandhi. Like Rama he will kill Ravana (foreign rule) and liberate Sita (India). Like Krishna he will kill the serpent of foreign rule. Siva has three eyes. Gandhi's Swarajya also has three eyes: self - purification, Hindu - Muslim unity and spinning. Thus Gandhi was made mythical figure.
Ram - Sita - Ravan, a Dominant Myth of Kanthapura:
The dominant myth of Kanthapura is of Ram - Sita - Ravan which is used to illustrate the fight between the Mahatma and the British. The Mahatma is Ram and Jawaharlal Nehru is Bharat. The Mahatma will bring Swaraj from the Round Table Conference:
“He will bring us Swarajya, the Mahatma. And we shall all be happy. And Rama will come back from exile, and Sita will be with him, for Ravana will be slain and Sita freed, and he will come back with Sita and brother Bharat will go to meet them with the worshipped sandals of the Master on his head. And as they enter Ayodhya, there will be a rain of flowers. Like Bharata we worship the sandals of the brother saint.”
The Exploitation of this Myth by the Swami's Agent:
The agent of the Swami also exploits this myth in order to glorify the British who, in his opinion, have redeemed religion and dispelled ignorance and corruption. Queen Victoria is Mother - Queen. The disappearance of the British from India would mean the loss of religion, the return of egotism, disorder and corruption and the pollution of the religion of Vasistha, Manu, Sankara and Vidyaranya. The myth is perceptible is stray references: Moorthy and Seenu are ‘Ram and Lakshman’ who only need a Sita to make it complete; Every Ram needs an Anjanayya, and Seenu is fire - trailed Hanuman.
Myths of Siva and Krishna:
The Mahatma is the embodiment of Lord Siva to free Bharatmata, the enslaved daughter of Brahma. Like Siva, the Mahatma is three eyed: “For, after all, sister, when one has a light on the forehead one can march a thousand leagues. Siva is poison - throated, and yet. He is the three - eyed. May the three - eyed Siva protect us! "
Myths of Siva and Parvati:
Jayaramchar narrates the story of Siva and Parvati, and Parvati in penance becomes India. Swaraj is also three eyed; self - purification, Hindu - Muslim unity and spinning. The temple of Siva is the heaven for the people:
“Changing he changes not,
Ash - smeared, he's Parvati's sire,
Moon on his head,
And poison in his throat
Chant, chant, chant the name of Eesh
Chant, the name of Siva Lord.”
Myth of Lord Krishna:
The Mahatma is Mohan. Lord Krishna is the savior of the people from the Kali serpent and the Mahatma will slay the serpent of foreign rule. The god - man appears to destroy evil:
“Whenever there is ignorance and corruption I come, for I, says Krishna, am the defender of drama.”
Mythologizing of Historical Characters:
In addition to using legendry characters of Indian mythology, Raja Rao is fond of mytholozing even historical characters as, fighters and saviors of freedom. Rani Laxmi Bai, Sarojini Naidu, Kamla Devi and Mrs. Annie Besant were no less super - human as freedom - fighters.
Myth of the Birth of the Goddess Kenchamma:
As a Sthala - Purana the novel portrays the birth of the goddess Kenchamma, the mother of Himavathy. At the request of the sage, Tripura, she descended from the heaven. She was bounteous, as such she had killed a demon ages ago, who visited their village to ask their young sons as food and young women as wives. A war was waged by her for many nights to kill the demon, and when he was killed the whole earth had become red with the blood which oozed out from his body. Kenchamma hill was red on this account. People regarded her since then as the presiding - deity of Kanthapura.
Mythologizing the Status of the Hero:
The status of the hero is exalted in the novel by the use of the device of mythologizing the facts of life. Mortal Moorthy's mental and moral stature was raised and he was endowed with a symbolic significance consequently. He is more than a man, he is a superman, an ideal man. He is compared with Rama, Krishna, Christ and Mahatma Gandhi, who had taken upon themselves to wear the mantle of the sins of mankind and undergone penance for improvement of human lot.
Inspiration into Rural Folk's Lives through Harikatha:
The Harikathas did the work which a radio or television does today. The Shivaji festival and Ganpati Pooja were started by Tilak in Maharashtra in the late nineties of the 19th century with the objective of communicating seditious feelings through pious meetings and ceremonial occasions . The novelist as a child had observed how the hearts of the people were roused in temples and the rural people were inspired in a manner that their meaningless lives assumed a significance which made them drawn towards it instinctively.
That Raja Rao has used myths in Kanthapura to his advent is apparent in the emergence of creation out of devastation of hope out of despair. The ruined village is rehabilitated: the people from Bombay build houses on the Babbur Mound. Gleans of hope flicker in the emergence of Jawaharlal with his philosophy of equal distribution.
