Q-18
Write a critical note on the socio-cultural background of Kanthpura?
~> Introduction:-
“Kanthapura” is a famous novel about south Indian village is written by
a famous Indian writer “Raja Rao”. Here Kanthapura is only an imagination by
Raja Rao .In this novel there is description about situation of the village
during the time of 1930 before freedom.
This novel is divided in three different parts
like :-
1.
Social
2.
Political
3.
Religious
“
Kanthapura” novel is related with mythology and freedom fighting movement
during this time. People’s mind during this time is the main theme of the novel
“Kanthapura”. At the starting point in Kanthapura the narrator “ Achakka” is
telling about village and she uses her real village language in that. In
political matter there is a freedom fighting movement from Gandhiji is related
by “Moorthy”. People of Kanthapura belived that Moorthy is a second Gandhi.
In
religious matter there is a description of people’s orthodox mind, their
languages,festivals and also in different many God and Goddess. After the freedom
movement there is a transformation of village and it become “Kashipura” from
“Kanthapura”.
~> Social-Cultural Background:-
Social background of Kanthapura is related with many things.
->Mythology
->Poverty and Illiterate of people
->Highly believed in God and Goddess
->Celebration of different
festivals
->No rights for women in
society
->Believed in Gandhism and
Moorthy
As per the
points people of Kanthapura are believed in Myth , not in reality and they have
not their own ideas because of their illitrateness. They all celebrated many
festivals like “Dusshera” , “ Kartika Purnima” , “Ganesha jayanti” etc.
The main theme
of social background is “ believe in Goddess” like “Kenchamma”.
People of
Kanthapura are believed in Kenchamma as their Goddess and have a great faith in
them. People have their own ideas about Kenchamma that:-
“ Kechamma is our goddess. Kenchamma came from Heavens.She fought so
many nights that the blood soaked into the Earth , that is Kenchamma's
hill is red".
After that they also believed that Moorthy is
second Gandhi and freedom movement.
People of
Kanthapura also have no rights for women and they also believed in no education
for specially for girls.
Social
background of Indian villages is a reflection of Kanthapura. From the
imaginative novel Kanthapura Raja Rao shows us reality of Indian villages.
There are many descriptions about Indian Society.
-> People of Indian village
are very Orthodox.
->They believed in mythology not in reality.
>People of India are very superstitious.
>There
are no right for
women and also no high position for women.
>As they are orthodox they
don’t believe in “ Education”, specially for girls. So they all become
illiterate in society.
>Indian
villages are very
simple but very poor in a comparison of cities.
~> Summary of the novel
Kanthapura by Raja Rao :-
Raja
Rao’s first novel Kanthapura (1938) is the story of a village in south India
named Kanthapura. The novel is narrated in the form of a ‘sthalapurana’ by an
old woman of the village, Achakka. Kanthapura is a traditional caste ridden
Indian village which is away from all modern ways of living. Dominant castes
like Brahmins are privileged to get the best region of the village whereas
Sudras, Pariahs are marginalized. The village is believed to have protected by
a local deity called Kenchamma. Though casteist, the village has got
a long nourished traditions of festivals in which all castes interact and the
villagers are united.
The main character of the novel Moorthy is a Brahmin who discovered a half
buried ‘linga’ from the village and installed it. A temple is built there,
which later became the centre point of the village life. All ceremonies and festivals
are celebrated within the temple premises.
Hari-Kathas, a traditional form of storytelling,
was practiced in the village. Hari-Kathas are stories of Hari(God). One
Hari-Katha man, Jayaramachar, narrated a Hari Katha based on Gandhi and his
ideals. The narrator was arrested because of the political propaganda instilled
in the story.
The novel begins its course of action when
Moorthy leaves for the city where he got familiar with Gandhian philosophy
through pamphlets and other literatures. He followed Gandhi in letter and
spirit. He wore home spun khaddar. Discarded foreign clothes and fought against
untouchability. This turned the village priest, a Brahmin, against him who
complained to the swami who was a supporter of foreign government and Moorthy
was ex-communicated. Heartbroken to hear it, his mother Narasamma
passed away.
Bade Khan
was a police officer, a non hindu of Kanthapura. He was brought and supported
by the coffee planters who were Englishmen. Considered as an outsider, Bade
khan is an enemy of the people who refuses to provide shelter to him.
After the death of his
mother, Moorthy started living with an educated widow Rangamma, who took part
in India’s struggle for freedom. Moorthy was invited by Brahmin clerks at
Skeffington coffee estate to create an awareness among the coolies of the
estate. When Moorthy turned up, Bade Khan hit him and the pariah coolies stood
with Moorthy. Though he succeeded in following Gandhian non violence
principle, the incident made him sad and unhappy.
Rachanna and family were thrown
out of the estate because of their role in beating Bade Khane. Meanwhile,
Moorthy continued his fight against injustice and social inequality and became
a staunchest ally of Gandhi. Taking the responsibility of the violent actions
happened at the estate; Moorthy went on a three day long fasting and came out
victorious and morally elated.Following the footsteps of Gandhi, a unit of the
congress committee was formed in Kanthapura. Gowada, Rangamma, Rachanna and
seenu were elected as the office bearers of the committee and they avowed to
follow Gandhi’s teachings.
Fearing the greater mobility of
people of Kanthapura under the leadership of Moorthy, the foreign government
accused him of provoking people to inflict violence it and arrested him. Though
Rangamma and Rachanna were willing to release him on bail, he refused. He was
punished for three months rigorous imprisonment.
The theme of Kanthapura may be summed
up as ‘Gandhi and our village’, but the style of narration makes the books more
a Gandhi Purana than a piece of mere fiction. Gandhi is the invisible God,
Moorthy is the visible Avatar. The reign of the rodmen is Asuric rule, and it
is resisted by the Devdas, the Satyagrahis. The characters sharply divide into
two camps: the Rulers (and their supporters) on the one hand and the
Satyagrahis (and their sympathizers) on the other. These are – various other
divisions too.
~> Conclusion:-
“Raja
Rao’s Kanthapura is one of the finest novels to come out of mid-twntieth
century India. It is the story of how Gandhi’s struggle for independence from
the British came to a typical village, Kanthapura in South India. Young
Moorthy, back from the City with “ New Ideas “ cuts across the ancients
barriers of caste to unite the villagers in non-violent action – which is met
with violence by landlords and Police. The dramatic tale unfolds in a poetic,
almost mythical style which conveys as never before the rich textures of Indian
rural life. The narrator is an old woman, imbued with the legendary history of
the region, who knows the past of all the characters and comments on their
actions with sharp-eyed wisdom. Her narrative, and the way she tells it, evokes
the spirit of India’s traditional folk-epics. This edition includes extensive
notes on Indian myths, religion, social customs, and the independence movement
which fill out the background for the American reader’s more complete
understanding and enjoyment.”
