Book: the palace of illusions

Author: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Group no. :- 34
Rishi Raj (18134011) rishiraj.mec18@itbhu.ac.in
Mihir Vijay Naik (18134006) mihirvijaynaik.mec18@itbhu.ac.in
Satyam Kumar (18134014) satyamkumar.mec18@itbhu.ac.in
Sachin Arya (18134012) sachinarya.mec18@itbhu.ac.in
Ananya Verma (18173001) ananyaverma.mec18@itbhu.ac.in

INT
CONTENTS:

1. COVER PAGE (page 1)

2. TITLES (page 2)
3. CONTENTS (page 3)
4. INTRODUCTION (page 4)
5. PLOT (page 4)
6. SUMMARY (page 5-6)
7. CRITIC OF THE WORK (page 7)
8. CONCLUSION (page 8)
6. GREETINGS (page 9)
INTRODUCTION:

Name of the book: The palace of illusions

Writer: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Publication: Picador
Release date: 1st Jan 2008

PLOT

Through the tumultuous life of Panchaali, daughter of King Drupad and wife
to five husbands who seek to reclaim their birthright, bestselling novelist
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni gives voice to a bold and sensuous retelling of
captivating stories from the Mahabharat. Woven into the fabric of traditional
tales from the ancient Indian epic, Panchaali’s destiny is a thread as golden
and as fragile as the lotus she discovers. As she endures a fierce civil war,
domestic power struggles, and the perils of attraction to elusive men,
Panchaali brings a feminine sensibility to her male-dominated world. From
the story of her magical birth in fire to her final moments as she brings an
end to the Third Age of Man, Panchaali bears witness to her fate with
insightful observations and a powerful heart. With devotion to Panchaali’s
tale, Divakaruni also presents a stirring account of the interplay of warriors,
gods, and the inscrutable laws of destiny, offering wisdom for today’s war-
torn world.
SUMMARY :

The entire story is narrated through Panchaali, the wife of the five
Pandavas, sister to Dhri and daughter of King Drupad. King Drupad has
longs for
the death of Drona, his ex-friend and now enemy. Panchaali grows up
isolated from most people except for Dhai Ma, Krishna, and Dhri. To get
her married, King Drupad calls for a swayamvar, where all of the princes
and kings of Bharat (modern-day India) are invited, and Panchaali will
choose her husband from them. However, to be eligible to marry Panchaali
there is an unbelievably hard test of skill. Panchaali ends up marrying
Arjun, a Pandava prince. However, she has really fallen in love with Karna,
the Pandava’s enemy

Arjun’s mother Kunti accidentally tells all four of Arjun’s brothers to share
whatever it is that Arjun has brought causing Panchaali to have to marry all
five of the Pandavas. Because of those five marriages, the Kauravas have
to allow the Pandavas back into Hastinapur and Dhritarashtra is shamed
into giving Yudhisthir his half of the kingdom.

After many years of a happy reign in their own kingdom, Yudhisthir plays a
rigged gambling game with Duryodhan and as a result the five
Pandavas and Panchaali are banished into the forest for twelve years and
they must spend their thirteenth year in exile undercover. However, before
they leave for exile, Duryodhan takes full benefit of the situation and orders
Panchaali to be disrobed in the middle of the court; however, due to an
intervention by a God, Panchaali’s sari never ends, but it is Duryodhan who
gets tired of pulling the never-ending sari. The twelve years of exile in the
forest pass. During their thirteenth year, Yudhisthir disguises himself as an
advisor in King Virat of Matsys’s court. Bheem becomes a cook, Nakul and
Sahadev gain employment as workers in the king’s barn, Panchaali gains
work as Queen Sudeshna’s maid, and Arjun disguises himself as a woman,
teaching dance to Princess Uttara. Finally, at the end of their thirteenth
year in exile, it is time for everyone to get their revenge. Sikhandi will get to
kill Bheeshma, Dhri will get to kill Drona, and the Pandavas will be able
avenge Panchaali’s honor and gain back their kingdom, which is their
birthright. Sage Vyasya gifts Panchaali and Sanjaya, Dhristrashta’s loyal
servant the vision, so that they will see the great war as it unfolds—in their
head. For eighteen days, the awful war of the Kurukshetra is waged.
Through it, the Kauravas are decimated, and so is the Pandava army and
Panchaali’s sons and brother.

The Pandavas win the great war leaving them to rule a kingdom filled with
widows, orphans, grief, and mourning. They are left to clear the battlefield
of all the dead bodies. Eventually, Kunti reveals to the Pandavas that
Karna, their enemy, was her oldest child, and their older brother. Slowly but
painfully, all of the dead are cremated. Yudhisthir is coronated and he
becomes the king. The kingdom of Hastinapur starts to flourish again and
become prosperous.
Only the birth of Pariksit, the grandson of Arjun pulls the five Pandavas and
Panchaali out of their great depression. With Pariksit’s birth all of the
Pandavas throw their energy into loving Pariksit, and giving him the best
education possible. Eventually, a messenger from Dwarka, the city of
Krishna, brings the Pandavas the news that he is dead.

With Krishna’s death, the Pandavas realize that they have lived out their
lives; there is no more point in them remaining alive. They give up
their worldly possessions and leave for an ascetic life in the forest. All of
Panchaali’s husbands, except for Yudhisthir die and so does Panchaali;
however, Yudhisthir is a pure enough man that he is able to gain access
into heaven as a human. As Panchaali’s human life draws to an end,
Krishna appears to her and reveals that he is God. In conclusion, all the
people who die as a result of the great war, end up having souls in heaven
where finally, Panchaali can be herself.
 Critic of the work
Divakaruni portrays Panchali as a powerful, strong, and independent woman, an
equal to the men around her rather than subservient. She presents Panchali’s life as
a series of choices made by Panchali, and not the people around her, giving her a
voice in the overwhelmingly patriarchal society that was ancient India. Divakaruni’s
interpretation of the epic provides a complete narrative, sometimes missing from the
original epic, giving a stronger role to the women of the story, and portraying them
as equals in society.

Though Divakaruni gives women an equal status in society, showing them to be

more than just daughters, mothers and wives of great heroes of the epic
Mahabharata, the injustices borne by the female protagonists constantly remind the
reader that no matter how much women assert their roles in society, if men believe
that they are superior to women, equality will not prevail. Parallels from Panchali’s
story can be made to events from contemporary Indian society that show us that
though it has been almost three thousand years since the events of the
Mahabharata unfolded, society has not come much further in terms of the way
women are treated.
Though the focus is on Panchali’s life, Divakaruni is careful to include the stories of
the other strong female characters, not just as Panchali’s rivals, but also as strong
role-models (for Panchali and others alike). Divakaruni portrays, at length, the story
of Kunti, Panchali’s mother-in-law, who devoted her life to the upbringing of her own
sons and the sons of her husband’s second wife, making sure to treat them all
equally, and grooming them to become kings. She also mentions the story of
Gandhari, the wife of the blind king Dhritarashtra and Kunti, Draupadi's mother-in-
law.
What makes Divakaruni’ novel compelling and above other interpretations is that
she portrays the stories of all these women as conscious choices made by them, not
as roles handed to them by society or by the men in their lives. These women chose
the lives that they lived, and did not simply walk into them. To give the women of
ancient India such power and freedom is phenomenal.

The original epic was about gods, demi-gods, kings, princes, warriors, and other
noble men. But Divakaruni’s interpretation provides a humanistic touch to the epic,
making it more realistic, more relatable, and more personal. Most who read this
novel will know the events of the original epic beforehand. But those who have not
read the original will be disappointed that it is not the version written by Divakaruni.
 Conclusion
Relevance to Education & Self:

The objective of the course Education and Self is completely fulfilled

through this book. In the book, Panchaali educates herself in an informal
way secretly and later introspects to enhance herself. This book clearly
focuses on enhancing the self through education. Education, which isn't
just through books but through observation. Observing people around,
observing situations one is stuck in.

When it comes to learning about what is better other than the great epic
Mahabharat. And this book adds an extra flavour by bringing before us
perspective of women as well. Side of the great epic we don't observe.

Education and self is about observing, learning and inculcating in oneself

the virtues learnt. This book through its protagonist Panchaali and other
characters describes it.