Raja Rao (8 November 1908 – 8 July 2006) was an Indian writer of
English-language novels and short stories, whose works are deeply rooted in
Metaphysics. He won him the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1964.
Raja Rao’s first and best-known novel, Kanthapura (1938), is the story of
a south Indian village named Kanthapura. The novel is narrated in the form of a
purana by an old woman of the village, Achakka. Dominant castes like Brahmins
are privileged to get the best region of the village, while lower casts such as
Pariahs are marginalized. Despite this classist system, the village retains its
long-cherished traditions of festivals in which all castes interact and the
villagers are united. The village is believed to be protected by a local deity
named Kenchamma.
The main character of the novel, Moorthy, is a young Brahmin who leaves
for the city to study, where he becomes familiar with Gandhian philosophy. He
begins living a Gandhian lifestyle, wearing home-spun khaddar and discarded
foreign clothes and speaking out against the caste system. This causes the
village priest to turn against Moorthy and excommunicate him. Heartbroken to
hear this, Moorthy's mother Narasamma dies. After this, Moorthy starts living
with an educated widow, Rangamma, who is active in India’s independence
movement.
Moorthy is then invited by Brahmin clerks at the Skeffington coffee
estate to create an awareness of Gandhian teachings among the pariah coolies.
When Moorthy arrives, he is beaten by the policeman Bade Khan, but the coolies
stand up for Moorthy and beat Bade Khan - an action for which they are then
thrown out of the estate. Moorthy continues his fight against injustice and
social inequality and becomes a staunch ally of Gandhi. Although he is
depressed over the violence at the estate, he takes responsibility and goes on
a three-day fast and emerges morally elated. A unit of the independence
committee is then formed in Kanthapura, with the office bearers vowing to
follow Gandhi’s teachings under Moorthy's leadership.
The British government accuses Moorthy of provoking the townspeople to
inflict violence and arrests him. Though the committee is willing to pay his
bail, Moorthy refuses their money. While Moorthy spends the next three months
in prison, the women of Kanthapura take charge, forming a volunteer corps under
Rangamma's leadership. Rangamma instills a sense of patriotism among the women
by telling them stories of notable women from Indian history. They face police
brutality, including assault and rape, when the village is attacked and burned.
Upon Moorthy's release from prison, he is greeted by the loyal townspeople, who
are now united regardless of caste. The novel ends with Moorthy and the town
looking to the future and planning to continue their fight for independence.
My Observations:-
In this text we can see the effects of Gandhian ideology on the
characters specially Moorthy. He is also called Gandhi. We can see how Gadhian
Philosophy works to bring in the change. The theme of Kanthapura is the amalgamation
of different Indian castes under a Gandhian system of social justice during the
fight against British rule of India.
The novel divides its characters according to their support or opposition
to Gandhi's message and the figure of Gandhi is at the centre of the narrative.
Reference:-
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