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Digvijay Pandya, Lovely Professional University Unit 25: Girish Karnad: Nagmandla—Detailed Study of the Text

Unit 25: Girish Karnad: Nagmandla Notes

Detailed Study of the Text

CONTENTS
Objectives
Introduction
25.1 Girish Karnad Nagmandla
25.2 Summary
25.3 Key-Words
25.4 Review Questions
25.5 Further Readings

Objectives

After reading this Unit students will be able to:
• Introduce Karnad.
• Discuss Nagmandla.

Introduction

Girish Karnad has emerged as the most significant playwright of post-independence Indian
1
literature, according to the Indian critic P. Dhanavel (2000:11). The critic emphasizes Karnad’s
humanism, derived mainly from his profound concern for the “oppressed” and the “downtrodden”,
his compulsive return to and reinterpretation of the mythical past and oral tradition, and his
“determined demystification of the dominant beliefs and practices”.

25.1 Girish Karnad: Nagmandla

Girish Karnad’s play Nâgmandla is consciously anchored in the ancient theory and tradition of
Indian theatre. The play thus reflects Karnad’s respect for technical elements of theatrical art and
also for the Indian tradition of storytelling, even though he innovates and experiments by sharing
twentieth century views. In Nâgmandla, the author brings his drama into line with the changes
occurring in Indian society and mentality. The article analyzes his technique of using different
narrative levels and shows how in Nâgmandla the superimposed stories lead to an exemplification
of his vision of theatre as a unifying, total experience. It is shown how the overall structure of the
interrelated stories and plots, the triangular relationships, and the triple ending can be visualized
graphically as a Mandala. The article ends by focusing on and discussing the three endings of the
play, which have been the cause of surprise and controversy. It concludes that, though the last
ending is not within the orthodoxy of Indian epic texts, the play must be studied and interpreted
not only by keeping elements of Hindu philosophy as points of reference, but also by taking into
account the cultural context of the Indian woman of today who seeks to fulfil her needs and
aspirations.
Other Indian critics, in their analysis of contemporary Indian theatre, focus on its ambivalent
relationship both to its classical and colonial past, and to the contemporary problems of Indian

1 Girish Karnad was born in Matheran, near Bombay, in 1938 and grew up in Sirsi (Karnataka). He writes his
plays in Kannada and he himself translates them into English.

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