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Girish Karnad

What is Nagamandala?
Nagamandala is an elaborate and spectacular ritual of serpent worship at present found
in Tulunadu, especially in Mangalore and Udupi districts. Nagamandala is also called
hudiseve, mandlabhoga or mandlaseve by the Baidyas. But nagamandala is a term
generally used by all to denote this form of worship.
The term nagamandala is a compound of two words: naga and mandala. Naga means
serpent and mandala implies decorative pictorial drawings on the floor. The decorative
drawing in this context means the drawing of the figure of serpent god in a prescribed
form. Nagamandala depicts the divine union of male and female snakes.
Noted play writer Girish Karnad wrote a play titled Nagamandala in 1987-88. Like the
ritual this also revolves around the union of a snake. However, here the union was not
with another snake. Instead it was the union of a snake in the form of a human with
another human. The play is based on two folk-tales that Karnad heard from his mentor
A.K Ramanujan.

Introduction to the Play Nagamandala by Girish Karnad

The play Nagamandala revolves around the character Rani. Rani is a young bride who
is neglected by her indifferent and unfaithful husband, Appanna. Appanna spends most
of his time with his concubine and comes home only for lunch. Rani is one of those
typical wives who want to win her husbands affection at any cost. In an attempt to do
so, she decides to drug her husband with a love root, which she mixes in the curry. That
curry is spilled on the nearby anthill and Naga, the King Cobra drinks it.
Naga, who can take the form of a human being, is enchanted with her and begins to
visit her every night in the form of her husband. This changes Ranis life completely as
she starts to experience the good things in life though she never knows that the person
with her is not her husband but the Naga.
One of these days, she gets pregnant and breaks the news to Appanna. He
immediately accuses her for adultery and says that he has not fathered the child. The
issue is referred to the village Panchayat. She is then asked to prove her fidelity by
putting her hand in the snake burrow and taking a vow that she has not committed
adultery. It is a popular belief that if any person lies holding the snake in their hand, they
will be instantly killed by the snake God.
She does place her hand in the snake burrow and vows that she has never touched any
male other than her husband and the Naga in the burrow. She is declared chaste by the
village Panchayat. Later, Appanna accepts Rani and starts a new life together. Karnad
gives a binary ending i.e. one were the snake is been killed by the villagers and another

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ending is of Rani after realizing everything helps the snake to live in her hair thereafter.
This sort of a happy and a sad ending to the play is been given by Karnad which is been
kept open for the readers to select and interpret.

Myths and Legends in the Plays of Girish Karnad

Indian Drama and Myths
Indian drama written in English by Indian playwrights makes extensive use of tradition,
myths, legends and folklore. Girish Karnad's plays vividly exemplify this trend. Girish
Karnad is a major dramatist who has significantly gone back to the roots of Indian myth,
tradition and culture and has re-created for us the rich and vibrant picture of Indian
society, culture and its people. In all his plays he genuinely portrays the Indian way of
life with all its positive and negative aspects, its tradition and their relative contemporary
importance and relation.
Culture defines society. The cultural ethos of every society is unique in its form and
essence representing the character of its people, their experiences and beliefs. Myths,
legends and folklore are in fact the embodiments of these cultural ethos that represent
the underlying values and principles of life, the shared experience of the race, the rules
and the codes of society. Girish Karnad has time and again returned to eternal roots of
his cultural tradition, taking inspiration from mythology and folklore.
Myths, Folk Lore and Legends in Karnad's Plays
Karnad takes his inspiration from the rich tradition of India's past and weaves it through
the web of his imagination into tales of his own. Karnad's first play Yayati is a story
taken from the Mahabharata. The mythical story is a tale of responsibilities, sacrifice
and self-realization. The play The Fire and the Rain is also taken from (the Forest canto
of) Mahabharata. It is based on the myth of Yavakiri and includes also the conflict
between Indra, Vishwarupa and Vritra.
Karnad's plays, Bali - The Sacrifice, and Flowers: A Dramatic Monologue are mythical
tales taken from a Kannada and a Sanskrit epic respectively.
Folk imagination is at once mythopoeic and magical. In the folk mind, one subsumes the
other. Folk belief, besides being nave, has a touch of poetry about it which works
towards a psychic adjustment. All folklore is religious, often based on animism because
the primitive imagination extends its vision from the natural, in which it is steeped and
with which it is saturated, to the supernatural, which to the folk mind is only an extension
of the former.

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Girish Karnad's Hayavadana and Nagamandala source their origin from the folklore
tradition of India. Hayavadana is based on Thomas Mann's translation of the Sanskrit
'Vetal Panchavimashati', which forms part of Kshemendra's Brihat Katha Manjari and
Somadeva's Kathasaritsagara. Karnad's Nagamandala is inspired by the snake myths
prevalent in South India. It is a dramatization of two folktales of Karnataka. In fact, Naga
Cult is widely practiced in many parts of India.
Historical Plays of Girish Karnad
Girish Karnad has also written plays that owe their source to Indian history. Weaving his
tales around legendary figures drawn from various periods of Indian national history,
Karnad has given a contemporary interpretation. "History is necessary to the living man
in three different ways: in relation to his action and struggle, his conservatism and
reverence, his suffering and his desire for deliverance". In other words, the past helps
as to comprehend the present. Karnad's Tughlaq was inspired by the historical
character of Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq, the fourteenth century sultan of Delhi.
In Tale-Danda, Karnad takes his inspiration from a historical movement that took place
in Kalyan in Karnataka in 1168 A.D. Basavananna, the great Sharana poet-saint and his
movement to eradicate caste differences, forms the main theme of the play.
Religion, Ritual and Superstition
India is a nation richly imbued with religious sentiment and belief. "Most Indians are at
least in theory religious in outlook". In Indian society one's faith is often more than just a
personal inclination, for, it defines an individual's identity. Every aspect of life in India is
associated with religion. Intertwined with religion are numerous rituals and superstitions.
Forming a part of the cultural identity of India, religion shapes and constructs the distinct
identity of the individual.
In Hayavadana, the presence of goddess Kali reveals the religious sentiment prevalent
in Indian society, culture and psychology. Devadutta prays to the goddess to win the
hand of Padmini in marriage. Later he beheads himself as an offering to the goddess.
Divine intervention unfolds the central theme of the play, 'incompleteness' and quest for
completion. The theme also reveals the Upanishadic principle that visualizes the human
body as a symbol of the organic relationship of the parts to the whole.
Religion and ritual not only forms a part of the narrative of Karnad's plays but is also
integral to the dramatic representation of the plays, a take-off of the folk theatrical
tradition of the country. Hayavadana begins with an invocation of Lord Ganesha, the
remover of all obstacles,who is to be worshipped first among the gods.

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If Tughlaq shows the hypocrisy and misuse of religion, then evolution and
transformation of religion forms a part of the play Tale-Danda. Superstition, an innate
characteristic of traditional and orthodox religion, finds a reflection in Nagamandala
wherein Kurudava gives the aphrodisiac root to Rani, giving a new twist to the tale. The
reference to a Yaksha woman enticing Kappanna, the son of Kurudava, also reveals
predominance of superstitious belief and belief in the supernatural elements.
Sacrifices also form a part of such religious practice as seen in the obliteration of the
self physically in Hayavadana, the snake ordeal that Rani undergoes in Nagamandala,
the seven years Fire Yagna in The Fire and the Rain, and the daily ritual of
sanctification, adornment and worship of Lord Shiva in Flowers: A Dramatic Monologue.
Spiritual thought and wisdom inherent in religion are also incorporated into the themes
of the plays. The emphasis given to intellect or the mind over matter, inherent in Indian
socio-psycho and cultural context, is evident when in Hayavadana Devdutta says,
"According to Shastras, the head is the sign of a man" (Karnad Hayavadana I.146).
The theory of Karma, Ahimsa, Balidan, Varna, etc. also echoes through the various
narratives of Karnad's other plays.
The Hindu spiritual belief in yoga, self restraint, selflessness and sacrifice of self is reiterated in the plays. The unrestrained, selfish enjoyment of sensual pleasures of Yayati
is disapproved of and so is the egoistical attainment of knowledge for power as in the
characters of Raibhya, Yavakiri and Paravasu; while the selflessness, compassion and
love of Puru, Nittilai and Arvasu are commended in life. Attainment of true knowledge
does require sacrifice but here it means a surrender of self: the sacrifice of false ego,
sensuous pleasures, ambition and pride. "True sacrifice is that of love especially that
which is for the benefit of humanity."
Socio-Cultural practices like Sati, Varna and the Partriarchial moral codes are portrayed
with remarkable clarity and precision by the playwright in plays Yayati, Nagamandala,
Tale-Danda, The Fire and the Rain, etc. The Bhagavata thus says in Hayavadana,
"Padmini became a sati. India is known for its pativratas, wives who dedicated their
whole existence to the service of their husbands;" (Karnad, Hayavadana II. 177). On the
patriarchal social order that subjugates and alienates women, Karnad comments on the
role of Appanna and Naga in the play Nagamandala that they represent the twin roles of
the husband, "as a stranger during the day and as lover at night." (Karnad, Author's
Introduction 19)

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Idealism
Karnad portrays the idealism aspect of Indian society in several plays. In Tughlaq,
idealism is shown to be misguided, in Tale-Danda it is shattered and destroyed by
violence and bloodshed by the traditionalists, in Bali-The Sacrifice, it reveals the stark
realities of human instincts contrasted with bare ideology which finds an echo in
Flowers-A Dramatic Monologue wherein the idealism of faith comes in conflict with
basic human desires of the senses.
Ideals form the basis of the various principles and codes conceptualized and formulated
by societies around the world. Ideals are sought to be practiced through culture that
creates and shapes the typical psyche of any society. Yet idealism is often manipulated
for selfish ends as in the case of the Yayati who takes advantage of Puru's devotion and
reverence for him as a son to transfer his curse onto him; or the two friends Devdutta
and Kapila who sacrifice their lives in front of goddess Kali but hide their real motives,
("The rascals! They were lying to their last breaths," Hayavadana I.142) or Tughlaq,
who uses prayer to fulfill his own vested interest to gain sovereignty, etc.
Subordinating the Individual to Social Interests
As per the traditional scales of social roles and culture, the individual holds a
subordinate position to society, community or family. In Nagamandala Rani and
Appanna confirm to their social roles and obligation as husband and wife even though
both are aware of the truth of their relation.
The Relevance of the Past for the Present
Indian society is traditional and an individual is still governed by societal roles and
norms that ensure a continuity and survival of its cultural mores. As Eric Fromm writes,
'We are what we believe in and where we live in.' Girish Karnad makes use of myths,
mythologies and folklore as his source for his plays, not for the glorification of the
chosen myths but to relate the myths to the present and to the past beliefs found in
these myths. Readers and viewers instantly see how even with changed forms human
values and behaviors seem to follow well set norms. Karnad provides us with a glimpse
of the past as well as its relevance to an understanding of the contemporary world.

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Girish Karnads Nagamandala: A Unique Amalgamation of Fact and

Fantasy
Girish Karnad Nagamandala that made its stage debut in 1984, is one of those plays
that has come a long way. Woven around two Kannad folk tales, the play is widely
performed across the globe and has been acknowledged as a modern Indian classic
and is a particular favourite of theatre groups.
The storyline of the play is complex and impregnated with subtle layers of meaning.
Nata, the eternal performer is cursed by the Goddess of Sleep to die if he cannot keep
awake at least for one night in a month on the last night of the month, Nata at a
dilapidated temple site, desperately tries to keep awake but is about to fail, when he
sees some Flames coming. The Flames get free when the house-holders in the
village, put out the earthen lamps and come to this place in the dead of the night to
exchange pleasantries.
The story narrates the story of the beautiful Rani, the village belle with snake-like
tresses, who gets married to Loka. Loka keeps Rani in captivity and spends every night
with the other woman. Rani, a child at heart is left to herself when a blind woman
Gandhari, who had been a friend to Lokas mother-visits Rani along with his son Kalia,
an idiot. Rani and Gandhari exchange words through the windows as the door is locked
from outside and develop a relation of trust. Gandhari gives two pieces of enchanted
root to Rani to feed Loka so that he would love Rani and shun the other woman. When
Rani grinds the root to a paste and pours it into the cooking bowl, the paste spits fire
and red smoke that engulf Rani. Rani gets jittery and decides not to feed it to Loka as it
could be poison. She pours the curry with the root-paste on an anthill. The cobra in the
anthill takes the potion and falls in love with Rani.
Every night when Loka is away, the cobra makes its way to Ranis bedroom in the guise
of Loka and makes love to her. Rani gets pregnant and Loka accuses Rani of infidelity.
The village court asks Rani to swear with the cobra in hand and to prove her chastity.
Rani tells that she had never touched any other male except Loka and the cobra. As
Rani told the truth, the cobra didnt bite Rani and instead coiled around her body and
spread its hood over Rani,s head, The village court pronounces that Rani is no ordinary
mortal, she is a Goddess. Rani delivers a male child and Loka & Rani live happily ever
after.
The cobra suffers from pangs of love and hangs itself in the long tresses of Rani. Rani
wakes up with a start to find a dead cobra dropping down her tresses. Rani asks Loka
to observe the last rites of the dead cobra in the hands of their son. The play has an
alternative ending with the live cobra dropping down Ranis tresses that she
accommodates in the bun of her hair as her true lover avoiding Lokas eyes.

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The play as a literary work has been interpreted in several ways like Loka and the cobra
being the split self of the same person or one being the alter ego of the other.

An Overview of the Play

Appropriating an Indian folk tale and the form of storytelling in an innovative manner
(the flames like women narrating stories to each other), in order to explore into the
ideologies that constitute the private domain of family, it highlighted the problem of
womans sexual desire, autonomy, fulfillment and transgression. According to Karnad,
[Nagamandala} is the sotry of a young girl in the bosom of a joint family where she sees
her husband only in two unconnected roles- as a stranger during the day and as a lover
during the night.
The problem of sexuality and fulfillment is represented by Rani who is married to
Appanna but who refuses to treat her better than a door mat. His affections are
engaged elsewhere and poor Rani is locked in the house. It is the magic potion which
Kurudavva, the old blind woman, gives her to gain the affection of her husband, but
which naga (the snake) drinks, that becomes a key to her desires.
Nagas nocturnal visits awaken her womanhood and arouse her desires, so far
forbidden. The contradiction between the colourful nights with Naga , in the shape of her
husband, and the drab and dull existence when the real husband comes home to eat at
day, symbolize the contradiction in womens life in general.There are multiple signs in
the play when Rani tries to consciously obliterate the struggle between desire and
knowledge. Rani tries to turn a blind eye to all the tell tale signs which proclaim that the
husband in the night and the husband in the daytime are not one and the same. The
scratches on his body disappear in the day; she sees Nagas reflection in the mirror as
a cobra when she opens her toilet box to take out a medication for applying on his
wounds and yet she cannot let him go because it is he who has opened up a whole new
world of forbidden desires to her.
The power relations between the husband and wife and between Naga and Rani are in
a sense quite identical. Rani is not supposed to ask any questions about the treatment
that is being meted out to her. She says, Scowls in the day, embraces at night. The
face in the morning unrelated to the one in the night. But day or night, one rule does not
change. Dont ask questions. Do as I tell you.But she is not ready to confront the
questions within herself. She is assailed by self doubts. Suppose what I think is the
truth turns out to be false? she wonders when she has to face the snake ordeal. And
then when blind Kurudavva contronts her with questions about her sons whereabouts,
she is enabled to open her eyes to her own predicament, Do desires really reach out
from some world beyond to get into our bed?

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Her wish to accept the kiss of the cobra and the dark silence of the anthill is in a sense
her rebellion against the patriarchal norms of her society, which make her face the
snake ordeal on the charge of adultery by her husband. But these same norms do not
question him at all about his duty by his wife, about his illicit affair with another woman,
about his heartless treatment of his wife. She comes out of the snake ordeal
successfully, with her glory restored, her image idolized. She has turned into a goddess
overnight. And the husband, who had treated her so shamefully, is suitably enslaved to
her. The elders tell him, Dont grieve that you judged her wrongly and treated her badly.
You were the chosen instrument for revealing her divinity. It is not only her husband;
even his concubine becomes her servant.
Naga, her lover, is strangled in her hair, an obvious symbol of sexuality, and is
destroyed without harming her reputation as a divine woman in any way. The problem is
solved. But the story does not quite end here. As the flames say, Why cannot a woman
live in peace and harmony? Why should this ending, signifying the death of the extramarital relation be accepted? Then comes the second ending, whereby Naga is able to
live happily in her hair. Not only that, she continues to live happily ever after with both
her husband and the lover intact. The marital bliss remains intact and so is the
gratification of sexual desire.

About the Playwright

Girish Karnad was Rhodes Scholar at Oxford. He has served as Director of the Film and
Television Institute of India, Chairman of the Sangeet Natak Akademi (the National
Academy of the Performing Arts) and Director of the Nehru Centre, London (the cultural
wing of the High Commission of India). He was Visiting Professor and Playwright-inResidence at the University of Chicago. He has been elected Fellow of the Sangeet
natak Akademi, and has received the Sahitya Akademi, and has received the Sahitya
Akademi award as well as the Jnanpith, Indias highest distinctions for lifetime
contribution to literature and the arts. He has been decorated with the Padma Bhushan.
His career as a dramatist has been paralleled by an equally celebrated career as actor,
screenwriter and diretor of film and television, through which he played a pivotal role in
the Indian Parallel Cinema movement from the 1970s to 1990s.