CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PLAY NAGAMANDALA

Naga-Mandala has, a nonhuman animal, as a major character who morphs into human shape to become
a protagonist . Naga-Mandala brings on the urban stage the flavour of the rural Kannada folk theatre.
The play gets its title from the traditional folk performance Nagamandala. This theatre form is a
ritualistic performance that is rooted deep in the Kannada culture just . Nagamandala is a “festive
occasion when the Naga Dance (Naga Nryta) forms a part of the worship .  This dance drama is the
remnant worship of ancient days.  But Karnad’s play makes obvious departures from the ritualistic
performance to present a modern drama based on a triangular love affair between Rani, the female
protagonist, her human husband, Appannna and her non-human lover, a King Cobra, here referred to as
Naga. However, the locale of the play is rural India where the people share space with plenty of animals
and plants unlike in the urban spheres.

the playwright makes it clear at the very beginning that this is a female’s world and this world lies beyond
the structures of written stories. A.K. Ramanujan, to whom Karnad dedicates his Nāga-Mandala. And the
anti-realistic performance tradition of Nagamandala offers the perfect ambience for the make belief
world of King Cobras who possesses divine powers. The snake can change into human forms and perform
supernatural activities in this magical world. Thus, Rani’s lover is a king cobra which falls in love with her
under the intoxication of a magical root, assumes the shape of a human (her husband) and makes love to
her. The play takes ample advantage of the fluidity of folk tales in mixing the real with the unreal, the
magical and the elements of fantasy and present the world of the female in contrast to the structured
rational world of the male. Rani, is given into marriage to Appanna as a child. When she reaches the age
of menarche, she arrives at her husband’s house to lead a conjugal life. But quite ironically, instead of
making her the mistress of the house Appanna locks her up in the house and maltreats her. Rani accepts
this role of Appanna’s cook and maid without being made his sexual partner. Thus, from the very
beginning Rani is relegated to the position of the Other. From a carefree life at her father’s house, she
experiences a sea change upon coming to her husband’s place where she lies in captivity and humiliation.
Being locked up, Rani feels dejected and low. Rani’s only means to escape from this bondage is in her
dreams where eagles, stags, golden antlers befriend her and come to her rescue. Quite significantly, we see
that Rani easily associates herself with animals. The animals that are mentioned are just out of the
grandmother’s tales, which generally weave magical world of the unreal and the romantic . Besides
imaginative animals, Rani finds comfort in an elderly village woman, Kurudavva. The latter is supposed to
be the friend to her deceased mother-in-law. The old woman sympathizes with her and compares her to a
caged bird and Appanna to a wild beast and reptile. The analogy between the tortured animal and the
tortured woman is explicit in Kurudavva’s comparison. As already mentioned, the play is replete with
feminine sensibilities and the manner they respond to the natural world to convey those. There are
multiple occasions when references to various animals are made to communicate the feelings. The
references to animals can be categorized broadly into two— the domestic and harmless animals and the
wild and the harmful ones. The parallel between the domestic animals and the women expound the
concept of utility principle in both. Both are to be possessed by the owners. The wild animals Rani dreams
about symbolize the desire for freedom, they also stand for vitality to transcend the boundaries of
domestication and lead her to the realm of utopia. Appanna’s comparison to wild beast also connotes the
hierarchy of the human over the animal the sub-human. The proposition suggests that if Appanna had
been a good person he wouldn’t have acted as an animal.

Kurudavva hands Rani a magical root which the latter is to feed to her husband in order to win over his
love. But unfortunately, she throws the magical potion made out of the roots on the Naga. And the latter
falls in love with her. The love episode of Naga and Rani as already mentioned has both verbal and
nonverbal elements emulating the world of snakes. But they are primarily based on the precepts of totem
worship and other common beliefs and superstitions regarding King Cobra and are not based on any
scientific reality. The King Cobra has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 2010. The play
composed in 1988 could not anticipate the change in the global habitat making this creature vulnerable
which otherwise has been considered sacred since ages. The play adheres to the concept of snake cult
prevalent in India. The snake cult has multiple origins like totemistic, mythical, fertility cult due to the
similarity of the shape of a hooded snake and a sperm and so on. The worshipping of snakes has also
originated out of fear and reverence. The coiled snake or Kundalini has often been associated with the
concept of oneness of all ‘Jeeva’ (life) in this cosmos or the posture of Nagabandha is viewed as the
symbol of power transmission where the male and the female stand for two opposites in Indian
philosophical discourses. Thus, snake worship forms an integral part of Indian culture as many gods and
goddesses are also associated with snakes. Lord Shiva also known as Pashupati or the lord of the animals
is one of the trinity in the Hindu pantheon and his image is always associated with the
snake Vasuki round his neck. Even Goddesses Durga holds a snake in one of her ten arms. The Padma
Puran is dedicated to Padmabati, or Manasha who is the Goddess of snakes and Nag Panchami is one of
the auspicious festivals observed by the Hindus when the cobra also called Naga is worshipped. But the
prevalence of this snake worship has failed to protect the species which has become a victim of the march
of development that has robbed it of its habitat. Thus reading/performing the play in the present times
propagates the need for a sustainable development to preserve the cultural fabric of the country and
subsequently preserve biodiversity as opposed to western concept of development. This western concept
of development has also been constantly challenged by postcolonial ecocritics like Graham Huggan, Pablo
Mukherjee and others.