Assignment
Myth in Kanthapura
Name: Asha R. Dhedhi
Roll no: 02
Paper no: Indian Writing in
English-Pre Independence
Semester: M.A. Sem-1
Topic: Use of Myth in Kanthapura
Submitted to: Smt. S.B.Gardi
Department of English
Introduction
"Myth is neither a lie nor a confession, it is an inflection"
(Joseph Campbell)
Kanthapura by Raja Rao is not only a traditional or conventional story with neat and clean Structure and also has a complex plot. Kanthapura is a story of oral tradition of Sthala-Purana or legendary history. Kanthapura is an imaginative village in South India. But with this picture he tries to mingle past and present situations in an artistic manner. Kanthapura has its own rich legendary history but in which some famous figures of history and myth are overlooked.
"There is no village in India...that has not a rich Stalapurana or legendary history of its own.Some God or Godlike heru has passed by the village.
About the Author
Raja Rao is one of the most prominent and praiseworthy Indian English Novelist and short story writer. He was born on November 8, 1908 in Hassan in the state of Mysore now known as Karnataka. His notable works are…
- Kanthapura (1938)
- The serpent and the Rope (1960)
- The Cat and Shakespeare (1965)
- The Chessmaster and his moves (1988)
- The Meaning of India (1996)
- Comrade kirillov (1976)
About the Novel
Kanthapura is the story of a small village situated in South India. Raja Rao is a fabulous writer and the simpler story teller made use of the local language. In this novel he depicted village life in an extraordinary way. Story narrated by an old woman named Achakka. In this village we can find a glimpse of Caste-system, practiced in India in a very rigid manner. There is a caste hierarchy like…
- Brahman Quarters
- Pariah Quarters
- Potter Quarters
- Weaver Quarters
Here, Because of casteism we can see some conflicts and other issues. But in the end they all got together and helped each other and gave their part in the struggle for independence.
Moorthy is the main character, who is Brahman by cast. In the village we can find the temple of Goddess Kenchamma. All get together and festivals are celebrated in this village at Temple of Devi Kenchamma. Here Raja Rao tries to mingle political, religious, economic and casteism. Kanthapura is a marvelous creation by Rao. He depicts in a very simple manner the happenings of a village.
What is Myth??
Myth is an integral part of Society. Every place has their own legend or myth. Indian people are very much close to their mythology. Myth is generally about the origin or establishment of that particular place. Myth generally praises some supernatural power or God. There are some different types of myth..
- Creation Myths
- Nature Myths
- Hero Myths
- Greek and Roman Myths
- Definition of Myth
Alan W. Watts says….
Myth is to be defined as a complex story-some no doubt fact and fantasy. Which for various
reasons, human beings regard it as a demonstration of the universe and of human life.
Two Types of Use of Myth in Literature
The use of myth in literature can be divided into two parts...
- Unconscious
- Conscious
Unconsciously sometimes writers make use of myth in their writing. During writing they are not aware about using myth. But when critics make it's study then they find mythical situations.
Example: In Hamlet Gilbert Murray finds a myth which is connected with the ritual battle of Summer and Winter and of Life and Death.
Sometimes as a literary device some writers made a conscious attempt to use myth in their work as a part of modern method.
Purpose Behind Using Myth
- To explain how something came in existence
- To give moral lessons to people
- To Portrait historical events
- To know human existence
- To exploring cultural heritage
- Myths are lies presented as truths in front of us
- Some mistakes must not repeating, which is taking place in past
- To understand oneself
Use of Myth in "Kanthapura"
Indian people are very much connected with mythology but in comparison to European writers Indian English writers have made very little use of myth in their work. During the 1950s some writers like Sudhin Ghosh and Raja Rao used mythical situations in their works. Sudhin Ghosh made use of myth as it is real and Raja Rao used myth to mingle past and present situations.
Kanthapura is a wealthy and rich novel for the study of Mythology. Kanthapura is the story of Small south Indian village where we can find the influence of Mahatma Gandhi and the Satyagraha movement. It is not only a political novel but simultaneously we can also find economic, social and religious background attached with myth and legend. Raja Rao said this novel is...
"It is classic resurgent India told in a poetics, almost in a mythical style."
Kanthapura is an excellent example of mythical and puranic events. It is a worthy example of a combination of Mythical events, Puranic and folktale elements.
Two Kinds of Myth used in Kanthapura
Two kinds of myths are used by Raja Rao in Kanthapura…
- Pan-Indian Myth
- Localised Myth
Pan-Indian myth means the use of myth from which all Indian people are familiar and connected. These myths are practiced here and there in India. For example… Ramayana and Mahabharata and also a little use of Shiv Purana. In this concern Raja Rao said…
"I have written Puranas
but not Novels."
Localised myths are connected with the legendary history of some particular place or village, it also can be seen as Sthala-Purana. Kenchamma Devi and myth connected with it is the example of Localised myth in Kanthapura. Raja Rao makes a juxtaposition between the myth and parallel; he also tries to show the Indian freedom struggle movement.
Myth of Goddess Kenchamma
People of Kanthapura are highly superstitious and religious. They have blind faith in God Kenchamma. God Kenchamma is at the center of the novel and village also. She is symbolized as the protector of the village. According to Myth Demons and monsters use men as their food and women as their wives. Once upon a time there was the incarnation of God Kenchamma. Who fought against demons and they were defeated and killed by God Kenchamma. There is too much bloodshed and that's why villagers say that one side of a hill in Kanthapura is red with the blood of demons. They used to sing one song for their prayers to God Kenchamma…
Kenchamma, Kenchamma,
Goddess benign and bounteous
Mother of Earth, blood of Life
Harvest queen, rain crowned
Kenchamma, Kenchamma,
Goddess benign and bounteous.
Kenchamma is the Goddess who makes everything meaningful for the people in Kanthapura. Every struggle and problems are overlooked by God Kenchamma like...marriage, funeral, disease, despair, sickness, Death, ploughing, harvesting, arrests and releases from jail.
"There may be smallpox or influenza around but you make a vow to the Goddess, the next morning, you wake up and you find the fever has left you."
So, Local God Kenchamma, who protects villagers from any kind of struggle and problems and they have blind faith in God Kenchamma. Whenever there is a need for some supernatural power God always used to come on earth. Here Raja Rao quoted the lines of Geeta…
"whensoever there is misery and ignorance, I come”
These lines are for the birth of Kenchamma Devi and also indirectly he wants to prove Gandhi as an "Avtari Purush."
Use of Sthala-Purana
Sthala-Purana means a place where a great myth of legend is connected. Here, Kanthapura is a village which has sthala-purana connected with Kenchamma Devi. There are also some great God or Human beings with exceptional power passed through this village…
Rama Might have rested under this Peepal-tree, Sita might have dried her clothes, after her bath, On the Yellow stone or the Mahatma himself, On one of his many Pilgrimage through the country might have slept in this hut..
Myth of Ramayana
Throughout this novel Raja Rao made an exceptional use of the Myth of Ramayana. Might we say that the whole story is based on Ramayana. Ramyana is a great Epic in Indian history which is interpreted in various ways by Literary writers. Here Raja Rao created parallelism between Ramayana and the Independence Movement. He connected characters with mythical characters in Ramayana like…
Ramayana is narrated by the great sage Valmiki in the same manner here; the story is narrated by Achakka. Sita is kidnapped by Ravana and torcher her a lot as Britishers make inhuman behaviour with Indians. India is colonized by Red-men. Rama made his journey to Lanka to escape Sita from the hand of Ravana simultaneously Gandhi made the Free India Movement against British Rule. Rama waged war against Ravana and Gandhi's Non-violence movement against Britisjers. Number of people are injured, wounded, tortured, killed kindlessly. Rama goes to Lanks to exiled Sita from Ravana and Gandhi goes to attain "The Second Roundtable Conference" to get Swaraj from Britishers.
Different Myths
Jayramachari, Harikathakar present Gandhi as high as God. Portrait Gandhi as the Prince Rama of Ayodhya who destroys demonic rule as Gandhi struggles against British rule. He also compared Gandhi with Krishna who killed Kaliya, the serpent and here foreign rule evoking poison like serpent and Gandhi gave Freedom to India.
The people who raise voice against British, who are imprisoned like Krishna, are imprisoned by Kansa during his birth period or can say rising period. Swaraj is also called three eyed like Lord shiva…
- Self Purification
- Unity
- Making and wearing of Khadi
Conclusion
To conclude, we can say that Kanthapura has made a large amount of use of myths from different puranas and legends like.. Ramayana, Mahabharata, Sivpurana, sthala purana etc. Same mythical stories are told in a new way, characters are changed and the way of looking and perspective is also changed.
Thank you...
Written in a very elaborated way...good try
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