Mahachaitra, the great Spring
and other Plays

H. S. Shiva Prakash

Translated by C. P. Ravichandra, Lakshmi Chandrasekhar, Sandhya S.

 

5.5 x 8.5 inches, xvi + 165pp. 2002

ISBN : 9788170461609

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The three plays in this volume were written and staged between 1986 and 1995, and they focus on three figures who have had a decisive influence on Kannada history and culture—Basavanna, the revolutionary religious genius and saint of 12th century Karnataka; Madaiah the Cobbler, a legendry character who had a great impact on the backward castes, untouchables and tribals of South Karnataka; and Tipu Sultan, the ruler whom the British schemed to defeat and depose.

 

Mahachaitra, the play centred around the saint Basavanna, created a year-long controversy in Karnataka in which fundamentalists locked horns with Dalit and leftist defenders of the text, turning it virtually into a household name. 

H. S. Shiva Prakash, Kannada poet and playwright, writes from within a regionally culture-specific environment, while grappling with pressing contemporary issues like consumerism, desacralization ofof humankind and nature, and the tensionbetween colonial cultural influences and native traditions.

 

Dr C. P. Ravichandra, Reader in English, Mysore University, has several translations to his credit.

Lakshmi Chandrashekharis Reader in English, NMRKV College for Women, Bangalore.

Sandhya S. is an author in her own right and is an important translator from Kannada.

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