Kanthapura as Gandhian Epic

Introduction:

“Gandhi was like a powerful current of fresh air……Like a beam of light that pierced the darkness and
removed the scales from our eyes; like a whirlwind that upset many things, but most of all the working of
people’s minds”

Mahatma Gandhi during freedom struggle time wielded a great influence on the Indian masses. And his
struggle for freedom introduced some new trends in Anglo-Indian fiction, and some great writers of all
the Indian language produced some masterpiece in novel, poetry, drama and other forms of creative
writing.
Raja Rao was most celebrated novelist of India in 1930s and 1940s. He had depicted his novels through
the usage of Gandhian theme. Kanthapura is best example of how Gandhian ideologies influenced in
Indian writing in English.

An Epic is a long narrative poem telling of heroic acts, the birth and death of a hero or of nation’s
etc.Kanthapura is also an epic. Kanthapura is a tell of the impact that Gandhi had on the nation. He
converted the whole nation into an army of freedom fighters. Gandhi was no less than the hero of an epic.
The freedom struggle of India was an epic struggle. Thousands of people sacrificed their lives. It was
remains in the background through the novel; Gandhi is no doubt the hero of movement on a small village
called Kanthapura.

By reading the novel one get idea about the methods and principle of Gandhi. Moorthy and the others
freedom fighters of Kanthapura are followers of Gandhi and use Gandhian methods in their struggle
against the government. They followed the path of non-violence. The people of Kanthapura picketed the
toddy grove. Many toddy booths in and around Kanthapura are picketed. This is done to show that they
want toddy trees to be destroyed because they are used to make toddy which brings about economic and
moral hard-earned money in this toddy is very harmful for them, while doing all this they use non-violent
methods and does not lose control even when they are being manhandled and beaten mercilessly by the
polive.Even women and children are manhandled. Gandhi never appears in scene but he remains in the
background throughout the novel but the influence of him on the people is tremendous.

Like thousands of young men all over the country Moorthy gave up his studies and joined freedom
movement. He dedicated his life to the country after he had a vision of Gandhi. Moorthy tried to follow
the principle of Gandhi. He burnt his foreign clothes and started using Khadi.He did not marry and devoted
his life totally to the struggle for independence. He sacrificed his personal life and happiness for the sake
of his country. He became the leader of the freedom fighters in Kanthapura.

The Gandhian movement was brought to Kanthapura by Moorthy and the other city boy. He went from
door to door to tell people about Gandhi and his views and principles. He distributed Charkhas among the
people of Kanthapura free of cost. He had contact with the city congress and charkhas were given to him
by free of cost for distributing among the villagers. In the beginning, he found it difficult to convince the
villagers to take the charkhas’ and start spinning cloth on a regular basis.Ultimetly he was able to convince
most of them that it was essential not only for them but also for achieving political freedom, with tine
more and more people joined congress. And now people of Kanthapura regarded Moorthy as the Gandhi
of Kanthapura.
Moorthy did not stop working for upliftment of the Pariahs though Swami had said to him that he would
be excommunicated. But Moorthy did not take it seriously. Like Gandhi he also kept a fast for three days
because he felt that he had not been able to live up to the ideas of the Mahatma. He held himself
responsible for the Skeffington Coffee Estate. After the fast he started the ‘Don’t touch the government
campaign’. Under his leadership the people of Kanthapura picked non-violence like a true followers of
Gandhi. He was arrested by the police many times and during his trial, he behaved like a true Gandhian.

Like many young satyagrahis all over the country one point of time starts feeling that by following
Gandhi’s methods they may not be able to achieve their aim. He still respected the Mahatma but he felt
that British were able to fool him very easily. Moorthy was than attracted by the ideas and thoughts of
Nehru.

Like Moorthy there were other characters like Advocate Sankar, Rangmma and Ratna were also the
followers of Gandhi. Rangmma actively participated in work of the congress. Her house became the office
of the congress in Kanthapura. The freedom fighters used to assemble at her house and discuss their plan
of action. She took actively participated in organizing the women of Kanthapura and forming the Savika
Sangh. Ratna was also a follower of Gandhi. She was a widow and only fifteen years old. She becomes the
leader of the freedom fighters in Kanthapura in absence of Moorthy.

As Moorthy was following Gandhi’s method li9ke him Advocate Sankar also tried to follow the principle
of Gandhi and as a very honest and upright man. He was lawyer like Mahatma Gandhi, he did not take up
false cases and if at any point he came to know that his client had lied to him and was actually guilty, he
gave up the case immediately and in some cases he even made them confess. According to some critics,
“The character of Advocate Sankar is based on Gandhi himself”
From this we come to know what Gandhi really stood for.Saankar lead a simple life and was in favor of
Khadi.And he refused to go to any marriage party in which people were not dressed in Khadi.

There were many other people in Kanthapura like Rachnna, Range Govda etc, who were also followers of
Gandhi. By the time the Satyanarayan puja was organized, it had become a mass movement and most
people of Kanthapura had joined the Gandhi movement.
So throughout the novel we can see the influence of Gandhi on the character of Kanthapura.Throughyout
the novel Moorthy acted as a local Mahatma Gandhi and followed Gandhian philosophy. Here we can
compare Moorthy and Gandhi. Gandhi devoted his life to India’s struggle for independence. And Moorthy
refuses his religious doctrine for the sake of his villagers as Gandhi did for our nation. Gandhi neglected
his family for the sake of his motherland. He was not interested in monetary gain or in worldly things. He
converted the whole country into an army of freedom fighters.

Moorthy also left his studies and hope of a glorious future for the sake of the country; He devoted his life
to the struggle for independence after he had a vision of Gandhi and worked for removal of untouchability
and removal of other social evils. Moorthy worked for upliftment of Pariahs. Gandhi had started the
movement for removal of untouchability. Moorthy was a follower of Gandhi and told the people of
Kanthapura about the views and ideas of Gandhi. After the violence at the gate of Skeffington Coffee
Estate when Moorthy had tried to enter the Estate, he kept the fast because he felt that he had not been
able to live up to the ideals of the Mahatma. Moorthy actually tried to follow Mahatma’s doctrine loving
one’s enemies. He really respected Gandhi.
The novel encompasses with Gandhian ideology and freedom struggle. The story of satyagrahis moved
forward steadily till it reached to its climax. It was story of the people of a small village who realized that
they need to rise and fight for the freedom of their motherland. They made efforts in this direction and
they fail. They left Kanthpura and settled in Kashipura.As a result of the final clash between the freedom
fighters and the soldiers many people died and many were injured. After this clash, the whole village was
set on fire and destroyed and many people were arrested. The remaining people left the village and never
come back.

During freedom movement as a leader or Gandhi of Kanthapura Moorthy told villagers about the
elements that were taking place all over the country. Moorthy told them about Gandhi and his ideals and
views. He told them about important events like Dandi March. Here Mahatma Gandhi never appears on
the scene but his presence was felt all the time through the novel.

As inspired by Gandhi’s satyagraha.even the coolies of Estate joined the freedom fighters of
Kanthapura.Coolies of Coffee Estate joined the satyagrahis from Kanthapura but they were made to march
back to the Estate. And they were made to walk through street with their heads bent. And they also were
made to work without any break and the money that had been promised was not given to them.

SO here Raja Rao enhances the novel through usage of Gandhian ideology and Gandhian thought. And
novel had two plot and first plot dealt with the impact of the Gandhi movement in a small village called
Kanthapura. And Gandhian Ideology not influenced only any particular group, but it had influenced by
different kinds of group and individual.

In “Kanthapura”Rja Rao assimilates spiritual and religious aspects of Gandhian theme more deeply. And
the village called Kanthapura is the centre of novel where all struggle movement take place and all struggle
movement take place and all struggles are under influenced of Gandhian Ideology.

Conclusion:
At first Gandhian ideology spread as a music in every nook and corner of the village
Kanthapura and it directs people against British rulers. It is Kanthapura in which Raja Rao’s music for
Gandhi achieves its perfection. And truly made it Gandhian novel or Gandhian Epic.

KANTHAPURA AS STHALA-PURAN:
Kanthapura a regional novel expands into a sthala-purana and microcosm of India. What is interesting
is the world of kanthapura that the novelist creates with all its natural setting the novelist glues the reader
right from the beginning.

“There is no village in India, however mean, that has not a rich sthala- puran, or legendary history, of
its own. some God or godlike hero has passed by the village Rama might have rested here under the papal
tree, Sita might have dried her clothes, after her bath, o this yellow stone, or the Mahatma himself, on
one of his many pilgrimages through the country, might have slept in this hut, the low one, by the village
gate. In this way the past mingles with the present, and gods mingle with men to make the repertory of
our grandmother always bright. One such story from the contemporary annals of my village I have tried
to tell”. (kanthapura 5)
 The novel rather than being traditional novel with a neat linear structure and compact plot.
KANTHAPURA follows the tradition of Indian sthala- Purana or legendary history. As Raja Rao explains in
KANTHAPURA by the imagery of village and villagers. .Kanthapura is microcosm of the macrocosm, for
what happens in kanthapura was happening all over the country during those stirring days of the
Gandhian freedom struggle. as raja rao tells us in the very first sentence of his well known preface to the
novel, every village in India has a rich sthala purana or legendary history. It has a legend concerning the
local goddess kenchamma who protects the villager from harm and presides over their destiny. The
novelist style or narration makes it a Gandhi purana or a Gandhi epic.

In kanthapura raja rao made an effective use of the mythical technique used with such
success by English writers like T.S Eliot and Joyce. The use of mythical technique means that the past is
juxtaposed with the present an in his way the past may serve as criticism of the present. or it may be used
heighten and glorify the present. in his waste land T.S.Eliot has used the mythical technique to criticize
the present and in kanthapura raja rao has used this very technique to glorify the present and impart to
the novel the dignity and status of an epic or purana. it is in this way that the Gandhian movement,
”kanthapura is again another and a larger attempt at creating a sthala purana.

As raja rao tells us in the very first sentence of his well known preface to the novel, every village in
India has a rich sthala purana or legendary history. It has a legend concerning the local goddess
kenchamma who protects the villager from harm and presides over their destiny. The novelist style or
narration makes it a gandhi purana or a Gandhi epic.

Rao depicts the regular involvement of the villagers in Sankara-Jayanthi, Kartik Purnima,
Ganesh-Jayanthi, Dasara, and the Satyanarayana Puja with the intention of conveying a sense of the
natural unity and cohesion of village society. Old Ramakrishnayya reads out the Sankara-Vijaya day after
day and the villagers discuss Vedanta with him every afternoon. Religion, imparted through discourses
and pujas (prayers), keeps alive in the natives a sense of the presence of God. Participation in a festival
brings about the solidarity among them. The local deity Kenchamma protects the villagers "through
famine and disease, death and despair". If the rains fail, you fall at her feet. Equally sacred is the river
Himavathy which flows near Kanthapura.

The novel “Kanthapura” takes us to the world of history of Hindu. We also experienced the
Hindu epics and also come across the Hindu thoughts. The novel has also developed its mythic and
symbolic framework. We find some elements whish shows the message of Nationalism that were ancient
history, religion, characters from the epics, natural landscape and simple life of the village community of
Kanthapura. Hari-Kathas was practiced by the villagers. As it is a traditional form of storytelling. Hari-
Kathas are the story of God. Jayramchar was Hari-Katha man who narrated Hari-Katha based on Gandhi
and his ideals. Afterwards he was arrested because of the political propaganda installed in the story.

Gandhi’s character was portrayed as a hero’s like Ram, Krishna, Shiva in the novel “Kanthapura”.
The novel defines Gandhi as a divine rebirth of Shiva. Kanthapura emerges to be a laboratory of the
Gandhian thought and theory. The novel is a veritable grammar of the Gandhian myth. In Kanthapura,
religion, an integral part of culture has been used for a secular and political purpose such as attaining
Independence. Here religion has got a very significant role to play in defining the identity of people and
also of the nation.

The Indian freedom movement of the 1920s into a reenactment of the Ravana-Sita and Rama
myth and also the myth of Krishna. Raja Rao’s use of myth enables him to contain Western exploitation
as a moment in illusory time where everything becomes a kind of MAYA in which ‘Hindu metaphysics has
effectively phagocytosed Western invasion, Western history. This is not only an exaggeration belied by
the text but also a total misunderstanding of Rao’s use of myth in the novel. He makes conscious use of
myths and legends and situates the novel in historical time, not in illusory time and space. It is in this sense
Rao uses myths and mythical method because it provides a paradigm Gandhi comes as an AVATAR to
destroy ‘ADHARMA or UNRIGHTEOUSNESS’ by killing the serpent of the foreign rule. In the Gandhian
fiction “Kanthapura” still enjoys the central position it truly represents Gandhi and also the other side of
the reality of the Gandhian myth.

To sum up:

Thus, Kanthapura is a great regional novel , as well as an interesting sthala purana. The
novelist rises from the particular to the general by the use of myth and legend gives to the freedom
struggle of the kanthapurians an all India character. The weaving of ancient myths into the structure of
the novel, gives it the quality of timelessness which all great works of art have. By mythic sing the heroic-
struggle and self-sacrifice of the people of the south Indian village, he has created a new sthala-purana,a
new local leged. The novel illustrates how new legends or sthala-purana, a new local legend. The novel
illustrates how new legends or sthala-puranas are made , how the ordinary and the commonplace
acquires larger than life dimensions in the imagination of poets and bards,or gossipy narrators like
Achakka.