1.

Introduction:
Within the last century, the concept of myth has experienced a significant shift. As a
symbolic medium of expression, myth weaves its way into a text with a focus on the selective
replication of reality. The use of myth is commonplace and not revisionist when a writer
investigates a myth in a way that harmonises its textual meanings with culturally acceptable
interpretations. When a story is appropriated for new purposes and its textual meanings
diverge from those that the community accepts, this revisionist usage of the myth is taking
place. According to Jasodhara Bagchi, the myth of "Bharatiyanari" is essentialised and thus
homogenised within the hegemonic ideology of patriarchy, serving patriarchy in its local and
global manifestations. This multilayered accretion of myths is what gives rise to Indian
womanhood. According to these myths, women are either self-sacrificing mother who is
never an independent person or pure vessel of virginity, chaste wife, weak, and possessed by
their husband (Bagchi, 1-4). In India, the ideal lady embodies virginity, purity, gentleness,
tenderness, and a singular faithfulness that cannot be altered or even disturbed by her
husband's rejections. Motherhood is frequently celebrated. However, patriarchy, which
creates idealised conceptions of motherhood, frequently ignores the mental suffering and
trauma a woman experiences throughout this period of her life (Sonima, 3).
Fictional retellings of mythological heroines have become more diverse as a result of feminist
re-visioning. Two well-known figures from Indian mythology, Sita and Draupadi, have been
explored in various ways in mythological fiction. Many literary retellings of the Sita and
Draupadi stories, as well as studies of those retellings, have been influenced by the concept of
"re-vision." The literary retellings of the epics (the Ramayana and the Mahabharata) that
these characters are a part of, as well as theorizations based on these retellings, have all been
used to study the acts of men wronging their wives. This includes comprehensive readings of
the epics themselves. Sita from the Ramayana and Draupadi from the Mahabharata are two
examples of women who were left behind by their husbands, and writers and academics have
been retelling their stories to stress their suffering and the decisions they made. Feminists
have found it possible to discuss women's rights, equality, and dignity in the context of Sita
and Draupadi by proposing that women's roles in society are those of "minority," "subaltern,"
and "marginalised (Wadhwa, 2).
In this study representations of Sita and Draupadi in contemporary Indian fiction in English
will be analysed in the context of select novels of Pratibha Ray, Ashok K Banker, Chitra
Banerjee Divakaruni, and Amish Tripathy. The necessity of re-historicising the epics will be
analysed in this paper. Furthermore, the Evolution of Indian womanhood and identity from
Vedic to Modernist will be depicted. Moreover, the representative women in the two Indian
epics Ramayana and Mahabharata will be examined critically.
2. Background:
Even before the development of human civilization, myths served as a means of expression
for the hidden thoughts of people. People used to communicate using body language in the
beginning before language developed, and they had a strong need to tell and narrate stories.
On stones or in bark, they so used to design and carve representations of what they were
familiar with. These were the earliest examples of legendary traditions and storytelling, and
as time passed, they gained aesthetic and moral elements. According to Levi-Strauss, "With
myths, anything becomes possible." Artists of today employ mythological themes in their
works to make them interesting and educational while also allowing readers to peek into old
history, its genesis, and its relationship to their country. Over time, myths have had such a
strong impact on writers that they have not bound themselves to traditional stories but have
instead developed their own manufactured, fantastical, or what J.A. Cuddon refers to as
private mythology. Initially, this mythmaking was referred to as "mythopoeia" (Cuddon,
527).
Without regard to cultural or national boundaries, this mythmaking captured the attention of
Indian authors as well, and there are many publications about myth re-creation in the present
day. M.T. Vasudevan Nair started this style in India with his book Randamoozham, and
writers like Amish Tripathi, who is known for his Shiva trilogy, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni,
who is known for her book The Palace of Illusion, and Devdutt Pattanaik, who has written a
number of books, have helped to popularise it. Due to this trend, authors have a lot of leeway
to consider conventional myths and occasionally to address societal issues (Maity, 5).
2.1. The necessity of Re-historicising the epics
As myths allow people to see into the past, they play a significant role in human psychology
and society. According to Carl Jung, the stages of intellectual and cultural development are
the same in all human societies, and every person has the same nature and psychology. He,
therefore, believed that psychological processes were reflected in the same way by our
expressive behaviour throughout the ages, as well as by our mythology. Because of this,
myths about birth and evolution are likely common among societies (Nakhare, 2-3).
The husband-wife relationship is prioritised over that of a daughter with her father, a sister
with a brother, or a daughter with her mother in Indian classical literature. A "good lady" is
traditionally equated with a "good wife," and a good wife must be virginal, devoted, and
virtue-filled like Sita or Savitri. Irrespective of any gender men or women in Hindu society,
Sita, who is portrayed in the Ramayana as the epitome of wifely devotion, has long been
personified as the perfect lady. Sita's identity is only perceived or approximated in the
Ramayana in connection to her husband Rama. Her primary aim in life is to carry on her
husband's legacy. Sita is frequently referred to as Mata Sita and her role as a mother is
exalted, but as a wife, she is at the whims of her husband, who deserts her only due to the
disparaging statements of a commoner. Sita, however, appears to be aware that she has been
wronged, refuses to return to Rama, and ultimately seeks safety in the lap of mother earth.
Women are never fully human in scriptures (with the notable exception of the beautiful
Quran) or myths; instead, they are either portrayed as goddesses or less-than-human creators.
She has been referred to as a source of veneration or worship on the one hand but is also
viewed as a sexual object and seen as the property of men on the other. Her status is further
diminished by the constant emblem of the seed and the earth at every age. Man gives the seed
—the essential component for the development of the progeny—and the seed defines the
kind; the identity of the child is obtained from the father for the sake of group placement.
Women began to speak out against inequality and oppression as they became more aware of
the injustices done to them; the literary world was no exception (Ahmed, 11).
Women have been largely marginalised and relegated to the margins in Indian mythology.
The authors of myth revisionism, particularly feminist revisionist mythology, work very hard
to recount the ancient literary works from the perspectives of the subordinated women,
recontextualizing the occurrences and events and focusing on their suffering and ambitions. It
is astounding to see revisionist writers challenging the narratives of myths and legends that
have, for decades, evaded withering examination. Since it revives myths and stories that
would have otherwise been lost in the fast-paced, technologically driven society, revisionist
literary approaches also include waves of revivalism (Parvathy, 2)
Female writers have explored myths in all languages throughout India. However, female
writers must first develop their own language before recreating stories. Because word
meanings have been constructed around the interests of men, words and concepts cannot
mean the same thing to women as they do to men. Women have not contributed to the
creation of words. Shashi Deshpande expresses these ideas in the Afterword of her book The
Stone Women, saying that-
“…the basic problem is that not only myths have originated with men, but their
interpretation has also been in male hands.” (Pg87)
According to Simone de Beauvoir-
“Women have no virile myths in which their projects are reflected, they still dream through
the dreams of men. Gods made by males are the gods they worship.” (Afterword, The Stone
Women, Pg 88).
Sage Vyasa (again, a male writer!) is said to have written the Mahabharata; he participated in
the events and saw many of them first-hand. The Ramayana by Valmiki was similar. This
problem might be resolved by substituting "replacement models" for these ideal male-created
mythological figures. Chaman Nahal elaborates on the phrase "replacement models" as
follows:
“It is very difficult to construct a replacement model. One cannot escape the myth the
conditioning myth with which one has grown up. Unless we construct new myths, we cannot
construct replacement models. We all revere Sita and Savitri; they did something out of
loyalty, out of dedication. We may not like it today, but can we disown them? We cannot
escape the myths, so, the replacement models are to be constructed in the context of the
myths we already have.” (‘Feminism in English Fiction: From and Variations’, Feminism and
Recent English Fiction)
Early in 2016, lawyer Thakur Chandan Kumar Singh brought a lawsuit in a court in
Sitamarhi, Bihar, against Lord Rama. Singh demanded justice for Sita, the wife of Rama. In
an interview with the Hindustan Times asserting that- “Lord Rama had banished Devi Sita to
a life in exile in a forest without any suitable justification for doing so”. Additionally,
Attorney Singh claimed that- “the Devi was exiled (given “vanvasa”) for no fault of hers. It
was a hypocritical order from king Rama. How can a man become so cruel to his wife that he
sends her off to live in a forest?” He cited Section 367/34 of the Indian Penal Code in an
interview with First Post to emphasise his complaints using legal arguments. This example, in
which a lawyer plans to challenge a god (for his patriarchal outlook), provides a useful
starting point for the discussion of how mythology can affect how a society perceives gender
and how modern, secular democracies' constitutions differ from those of the ancients. Even
while this case was ultimately dismissed (Hindustan Times), it managed to resurrect a long-
standing discussion about the poor representation of women in epic literature in general and
the Ramayana in particular.
Here, it becomes crucial to understand how (Indian) SF connects with (Hindu) religion via its
mythology. The relationship between science fiction and religion, according to SRL Clark,
has four roughly distinct aspects: how religion, and particularly "organised religion," is
portrayed; how religious myths and legends are reproduced or attempted to explain; what
religious concepts or doctrines are explicitly endorsed in fiction; and what religions have
their roots in science fiction. The purpose of this article is to examine how Indian SF writers
"replicate" Indian holy legends in an effort to undermine the original text since reading
science fiction gives as much light on the scriptures as it does on the times and context of its
creation and consumptions (Khan, 1).
2.2. Representation as Re-telling and Re-creation
Since the beginning of time, myths have offered a variety of topics on which creative writers
might base their new works. Indian mythology and its several branches have had a lasting
impact on Indian literature, regardless of whether they are considered to be from the modern
era or an earlier one. Writers have attempted to incorporate long-forgotten myths into their
extraordinarily magnificent and ecstatic literature. In one way or another, Indian fiction
written in English strives to textualize existing mythology by establishing various literary
traditions. A new tradition of rewriting, re-creating, re-telling, remembering, re-introducing,
and re-imagining myths from a modern perspective is emerging in the current period of
globalisation.
Genre fiction has played a significant role in the enormous growth of the Indian English
publishing sector's readership and book output. Hindu mythology serves as an easily
accessible source of stories for a middle-class, English-educated audience that is
predominantly Hindu or Indian. This is especially true of genre fiction and graphic novels.
The area of Indian English publishing has undergone significant development with this.
This not only denotes a widening of the range of literary genres available in Indian English,
but it also demonstrates how Indian writers and artists retell Hindu mythology in fresh and
creative ways, forging worlds distinct from the established visual and aesthetic regimes of
Hindu devotionality. Authors prefer to look for new platforms for creative expression.
Indian mythological stories have endured through the ages and have been transmitted in a
number of ways. The abundance of these myths is a quality that is indicative of these myths'
characteristics. It is important to take into account the famous article "Three Hundred
Ramayanas: Five Examples and Three Thoughts on Translation" by A. K. Ramanujan, where
he comments on the adaptability of the epics and poses the question- ‘How many
Ramayanas? Three Hundred? Three Thousand?’ Here, he emphasises how easily these oral
histories may be tailored to fit various circumstances, settings, and individuals.
The variation of the widely known Indian mythological stories as they are found in other
south Asian nations like Indonesia, Myanmar, etc., demonstrate the cultural heterogeneity
that illustrates how these mythical stories may change in order to accurately depict each
unique culture. The quantity of Ramayanas and the breadth of their effect over the past 2500-
plus years in South and Southeast Asia are astounding. One can scarcely believe how many
languages the Rama story has been translated into, not including Western ones: Assamese,
Balinese, Bengali, Cambodian, Chinese, Gujarati, Javanese, Kannada, Kashmiri, Khotanese,
Laotian, Malaysian, Marathi, Oriya, Prakrit, Sanskrit, Santali, Sinhalese, Tamil, Telugu, Thai,
and Tibetan. Some of these languages have had multiple versions of the Rama story over the
years. There are at least 25 stories in Sanskrit alone that fall under different narrative
categories- epics, kavyas, intricate poetry works, Puranas, or ancient mythical tales, etc.
(Kantha, 48).
Many authors, like Amish Tripathi, Ashok K. Banker, Devadatta Patnaik, and others, focus
on myths. They attempt to illustrate the concept of globalisation in the context of today by
heavily utilising myths. Their primary areas of interest include The Mahabharata, The
Ramayana, and The Shiva Purana. The choice of language is made in a startlingly modern
approach in order to achieve the goal (Vitthani, 3).
Devdutt Patnaik, a skilled master of myths, developed a number of stories with local
importance. He is an Indian physician who has transitioned into a mythologist, author, and
thinker. The majority of his works deal with myth, religion, and mythology. On the
applicability of ancient tales, symbols, and rituals in contemporary times, he has authored
over 600 articles and 30 books, including ‘Myth = Mithya: A Handbook of Hindu
Mythology’, ‘Jaya: An Illustrated Retelling of the Mahabharata’, ‘Sita: An Illustrated
Retelling of the Ramayana’, ‘Shikhandi: And Other Tales They Don't Tell You’.

The Indian English publishing market was greatly impacted by liberalisation in the 1990s,
which broadened the field's infrastructure and opened up new opportunities for genres. Hindu
tales were used to differing degrees and effects in the writings of Ashok Banker and Samit
Basu, who were part of the first wave of Indian English science fiction and fantasy (SFF) to
appear around 2003. Ashok Banker pioneered the practise of retelling myths in his eight
books of short stories, in which he reinterpreted the Ramayana. It is a landmark that
personifies a number of abstract attributes and demonstrates the author's extensive
understanding of the multiple versions of Ramayanas. Amish Tripathi, a recent graduate of
one of India's top business schools and a professional in the finance industry, would persuade
English publishers to reevaluate mythological genre fiction as a lucrative commercial fiction
genre in the Indian book market, sparking the beginning of a larger second wave of
mythological genre fiction in Indian English.
The Ramayana of Valmiki, which was written between the second-century b.c.e. and the
second-century c.e., is the earliest full Rama story. The story narrated by Valmiki is generally
considered to be the basis for all retellings that have come after, and it has been translated
into numerous languages. Leaving aside the difficult topic of Rama stories from outside of
India, I will focus on translations of the Valmiki Ramayana (VR) into languages of northern
and eastern India or the area where it is believed to have originated. These subsequent
versions have the same narrative framework and key story points as the VR, and their authors
not only acknowledge their indebtedness to the adi kavi (the primordial poet) but also
indicate that their works are accurate retellings of Valmiki's poem. They deviate from the
Valmiki plot in several ways, including the specifics of some episodes, a few made-up ones,
and—far more importantly—their moral and religious presumptions. Even while these
assumptions are consistent with the VR's narrative, they transcend the strict boundaries of
translation since they reflect such profound shifts in attitudes and ideologies. These
conceptual shifts are so deeply ingrained and their dicta so compulsive that they manifest as
narrative interventions, like changed emphasis or even completely new episodes. They
rewrite the Ramayana in essence. Of course, "re-form" both ways—with and without a
hyphen is being used (Bose, 13).
Re-formation of Ramayana- This reformation process has three distinct movements:
i. ‘from righteous man to living god’, ii.’ from moral emulation to surrender’ and iii. ‘From
elite to popular audience’.
i. From righteous man to living God- Rama is the epitome of righteousness in Valmiki's
version of the Rama story, despite the fact that he is a manifestation of Vishnu who has
assumed this earthly form in order to rid the planet of wicked demons and bring about justice
and peace as the prerequisites for dharma. The virtue of dharma and its eventual triumph over
evil is emphasised in Valmiki's Ramayana. This message is repeatedly conveyed by Rama
himself. For instance, Rama tells Lakshmana in the Ayodhaykanda:
“dharmo hi paramo loke dharme satyam¸
pratist¸hitam/
dharmasam¸ßritam etac ca pitur vacanam
uttamam// “
ii. From moral emulation to surrender- The philosophical foundation of the Ramayana is
replaced with surrender when a man is transformed into a deity. It is not appropriate at this
time to make assumptions about why this should have occurred, but we can notice that it is a
part of a bigger movement. The Bhagavadgita, which is still arguably the most important and
undoubtedly the most direct and didactic literature within that movement, provides
compelling proof.
iii. From elite to popular audience- The Ramayana's reformation has had significant social
ramifications. One significant one has to do with readership and audience, which evolve with
time. Because Valmiki wrote in Sanskrit, his works were only accessible to a select few who
could understand the language of the privileged class. They were supposed to hear it and
comprehend it. Through this epic, they were taught about ethical and moral issues by the
example of Rama's dedication to dharma. The demand for tales told in local languages
increased dramatically as bhakti emerged in mediaeval times as a belief system particularly
accessible to the general populace. It is obvious that the poets who undertook the task of re-
telling Valmiki's Ramayana intended to make it understandable to large audiences.

The novel The Palace of Illusions by Divakaruni makes an attempt to rewrite the epic. Aside
from the epic's typical androcentric themes. A gendered version of the epic is provided by
Divakaruni's Draupadi, who takes over the role of the "hero." In order to fill up the narrative
space she creates, she questions Panchaali's thoughts and feelings with a fresh, out-of-the-
ordinary point of view. The retelling by Divakaruni aims to challenge and demolish
conventional Indian gender norms (Kumar, 3).
The popular epic Mahabharata is rewritten by Pratibha Ray, who gives the narrative a
feminist perspective. Yajnseni is unquestionably a feminist work of literature in which myths
are updated, rewritten, and retold from a female viewpoint. In Yajnaseni, Ray combines all
three components of revision. This updated version of Mahabharata is simultaneously
revised, reinterpreted, and reimagined (Chandran, 2).
Retelling mythologies is a growing trend in Indian English-language literature, with the
primary goals of providing a new perspective, telling a new version of the story, and bringing
repressed characters and their points of view to the forefront. According to Amish Tripathy-
“the purpose of mythology is to dig deeper and find the philosophical truth that exists
within”. Amish asserts to justify the retelling: “there is no singular truth, similarly there are
so many versions of Ramayana with different perspectives and different interpretations
making different versions of our collective truth” (Pandey, 23).
2.3. Evolution of Indian womanhood and identity from Vedic to Modernist
Hindu mythological literature includes four main works: Ramayana, and Mahabharata, The
Puranas, Upanishads. The Mahabharata and The Ramayana, two of these writings, are
regarded as the two greatest epics in the annals of human civilization. In addition to providing
entertainment for the populace, these two epics also educated them about responsibility,
morality, salvation, and sacrifice. If one can separate the kind of women that these
mythologies describe into two groups, one can classify them as follows: the first is the
selfless, morally upright, and devoted wife who is presented as the ideal example of how
women should behave (Shashi and Sharma, 10). They are reliant on the Male and gain their
strength from his selflessness and unwavering loyalty. The Goddess type, who is strong and
revered by society, belongs to another category.
It has been noted that some contemporary Indian feminists have reinterpreted those heroic
role models. The fictional people who appeared in such myths behaved in ways that were
appropriate for the prevailing social conditions. Amrita Pritam, Shashi Deshpande, Chitra
Divakaruni Banerjee, Namita Gokhale, Mandrakanta Bose, Malashri Lal, Kavita Kane, and
other contemporary authors have recently attempted to redefine the female characters that are
outlined in the ancient Hindu epics from the perspective of contemporary society. Attempts
have been made by these authors to develop "New Avataars" of the female characters. These
authors have attempted to offer the ancient female Epical figures the self-realization and
liberty that they have determined these characters need in order to stand up for their rights
and protest injustice. In order to explore the Female Self from their own perspective, they
redefine such characters. Many female writers of the present day carefully consider and
challenge the general qualities of the characters portrayed in the original works. They might
wish to develop fresh, current myths to appeal to new age readers and match the
circumstances of the present.
The writers provide in-depth insight into the psychology of the female characters in works
like "Palace of Illusions," "SITA, An Illustrated Retelling of the Ramayana," "Yagnaseni,"
"In Search of Sita," etc. Contrarily, books like "Karna's Wife," "Sita's Sister," "Kunti's
Confessions," and "Gandhari ki Atmakatha" concentrate on the mythological figures who
weren't given enough attention or voice in the original texts. They have made an effort to
highlight and interestingly acquaint modern readers with personalities like Kunti, Gandhari,
Urmila, and Uruvi. The retelling of the myths can be seen as an effort by the authors to
contest them from a modern standpoint. This approach also introduces the idea of comparing
and contrasting the original text with the rewritten versions. This examination can highlight
the numerous ways that the original characters and the ones that were recreated differ from
one another.
The women characters in Divakaruni's writings are not stuck in a mythological past; rather,
they converse and think like contemporary Indian women who manage their social standing
in accordance with their own norms. Divakaruni has recreated the epic heroines, their worlds,
and their ideas in her two novels The Palace of Illusions and Forest of Enchantments (hence
referred to as Palace and Forest) in a way that is both stimulating and unique. Divakaruni
recreates Sita's suffering and her tormented conscience as she watches Ram and Lakshman
mutilate Surpanakha. Yet again, Sita chooses not to speak out loud. She acknowledges her
silence in a hard way and says:
“I blamed love, too, for my silence. How it makes us back down from protesting because we
are afraid of displeasing the beloved. . . “(Forest of Enchantment, 151).
Divakaruni does, however, provide Sita with a sense of agency on several occasions, even if
she is confined to her small home. Sita exercises her control over her husband in her
bedchamber, which she uses. Ram's sense of responsibility is subordinated in favour of Sita's
innate calm demeanour thanks to the imaginative setting created by Divakaruni. Sita was
happy when Ram was exiled from the kingdom and given the opportunity to live an exciting
life among the forests. She is not hesitant to undermine Ram's sense of obligation in order to
achieve her goals (Goswami, 4). The novel by Divakaruni aids in bringing Panchaali to the
fore and dispelling the outdated stereotype. Divakaruni's, Panchaali works very hard to be
heard in a patriarchal society.
As Divakaruni puts it:
“I was left unsatisfied by the portrayals of women in the epics. It wasn’t as though the epic
didn’t have powerful, complex women characters that affected the action in major ways…….
But in some way, they remained shadowy figures, their thoughts and motives mysterious,
their emotions portrayed only when they affected the lives of the male heroes, their roles
ultimately subservient to those of their fathers or husbands, brothers or sons.” (The Palace of
Illusions, Author’s note xiv)

Divakaruni has a different conception of women characters than her contemporaries do. The
male gaze normally only perceives Draupadi's body as a source of beauty and as a place of
possession, but in The Palace of Illusions, she seems to have some power over it. She takes
charge of her life by changing how she accepts her responsibilities rather than outright
refusing to play them. She presents a critique of the patriarchal culture that has attempted to
rule over her ever since her odd birth. Smriti Singh asserts: ―” Though she doesn‘t switch
genders like Shikhandi, she has definitely moved away from traditional femininity towards
vengeance which is one of the important strands in reading this epic through feminist lenses”
(Singh, 130).
The complete story of Draupadi is told by Divakaruni, who also describes some of her most
memorable incidents. Although Divakaruni does not alter the epics' original storyline, she
does give the characters a sense of autonomy. She highlights the subordinate status of women
in Indian society, where they are denied the freedom to pick the people, they want to be their
life mates. Draupadi harshly criticises marriage as a societal institution that provides security
and validates women's identities. While the original story is kept quiet, hiding the heroine's
inner thoughts, Divakaruni puts light on those complex emotions (Goswami, 2). She realises
how society has commoditized her after her ridiculous marriage to the five Pandavas, as she
reflects:
“like a communal drinking cup, I would be passed from hand to hand whether I wanted it or
not” (The Palace of Illusions, 120)
Unlike in Vyasa's Mahabharata, Divakaruni's Draupadi is shown as a strong woman who
challenges all gender norms and patriarchal restrictions. The novelist reframes the entire
series of events in the framework of an ancient time period, giving them a female perspective.
Draupadi established her identity as being independent by referring to herself as "Panchaali"
and dropping the name Draupadi (the daughter of King Drupad). She expresses a keen desire
to follow her brother's advice regarding the laws of government, which were rigidly adhered
to and restricted for women, in contrast to the epic, in which she opposes all gender
stereotypes.
With her landmark work Karna's Wife: The Outcast's Queen, Kavita Kane—another notable
representative of the Myth Revisionism movement—turned the tide of change by posing the
question of why Karna and his wives Vrushali and Supriya were unfairly marginalised in The
Mahabharata through the creation of the fictional figure Uruvi. Uruvi is the central character
of the book, and she provides a unique perspective on all of the epic's parts. By selecting
Karna, a sutaputra, above Arjuna, the Pandava prince who comes from a highly esteemed
social class, Uruvi, the daughter of the King of Pukeya, establishes her bold voice
deconstructing the false society conventions associated with social class and caste. Uruvi is a
perfect example of the "New Woman," as she overcomes all resistance and challenges from
her family to express her love for Karna. The Liberation of Sita by [Link] Kumari
reinterprets and revives not only the character of Sita but also the characters of Shurpanaka,
Ahalya, Renuka, and Urmila who were the sufferers of hegemonic patriarchal culture in the
old mythology. They teach the value of independence and self-worth, and they extend Sita's
perspective so that one can reject Rama's fixation with patriarchy (Parvathy, 6).
Yajnaseni by Pratibha Ray is a prime example of revisionist mythmaking. Pratibha Ray, the
recipient of the Jnanapith Award, rejects the traditional and idealistic approaches in her work
and instead explores the troubled mind of the legendary heroine Draupadi. With the ability to
think critically, the writer speaks out against social injustices. It is possible to see the strength
and depth of an oppressed woman through the perspective of Draupadi (Chandra, 2). At the
end of her life, resting in the Himalayan foothills after being denied justice by the male-
dominated society, Draupadi reveals her true identity in a letter to Krishna. Draupadi exposes
the social undercurrents and frequently bursts at the commodification of women. Bhim was
addressed by Dharmaraj Yudhishthir as follows: “Do not turn back to look! Come
forward!”(3). The devastated Draupadi writes to Krishna in her letter with the pain of
recognition:
Those words devastated my heart. “I mused: how false is this bond between husband and
wife! Affection, love, sacrifice and surrender! If a man suffers the consequences of his own
deeds, then offering myself at the feet of five husbands for the sake of preserving
Yudhishthir’s dharma! Why did I have to bear the burden of the whole world’s mockery,
sneers, innuendos, abuse, scorn and slander?”(3)
Valmiki presents the female character, Surpanakha to his audience in the Aranyakand of the
Sanskrit Ramayana by drawing comparisons between her and Rama:
“Rāma was handsome, the rākṣasa woman was ugly, he was shapely and slim of waist, she
misshapen and potbellied; his eyes were large, hers were beady, his hair was jet black, and
hers the color of copper; he always said just the right thing and in a sweet voice, her words
were sinister and her voice struck terror; he was young and attractive, and well mannered, she
ill mannered, repellent, an old hag”. With these lyrics, Valmiki strongly depicts Surpanakha
as an evil being who is the complete opposite of the honourable prince, Rama. The
Iramavataram, a literary masterwork written in Tamil by Kampan in the 12th century,
explains the mutilation of Surpanakha in a slightly different way. Rama is not there when
Lakshmana fights Surpanakha in the Iramavataram, so he is no longer accountable for her
deformity. Surpanakha of Tulsidas’ Ramacharitmanas takes on the appearance of a lovely
woman to lure Rama. The shameless, evil Surpanakha of the poems of Valmiki, Kampan, and
Tulsidas can still be evident in some contemporary retellings, but a more nuanced and
sympathetic portrayal of Surpanakha has also just recently surfaced in modern India. By
portraying Surpanakha as a bereaved mother or widow, some contemporary Ramyanas
challenge the stereotype of her as a wanton lady. In Kavita Kane's 2017 English novel
Lanka's Princess, which is written from Surpanakha’s point of view. Surpanakha attempts to
exact revenge for the killings of both her son and herwife. Audiences may be able to identify
with Surpanakha’s character more when her goal for seducing Rama and Lakshmana is
changed from lust to retaliation (Pillai, 5).
Devdutt Pattanaik created a bold and unconventional interpretation of Indian mythology that
linked intricate Indian philosophy to traditional Indian art and rituals. Devdutt collected the
tales in the book Women in Indian Lore, which was released by Inner Traditions, USA in
1998 under the title Goddesses in India: Five Faces of the Eternal Feminine. It included
every tale about women found in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain mythology. The book made
Devdutt understand how the Indian people, whose collective unconscious gave origin to the
complex mythology were women who were nymphs and goddesses and chaste wives with
magical powers, understood the link between nature and culture, woman and man (Alisha, 3).
[Link] Women in the two Indian epics
Any level of acquaintance with the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, two of India's greatest
epics, exposes a fundamental and important divergence between Sita and Draupadi, the
heroes of the two tales. After being separated from her lord Rama by the ten-headed demon
Ravana, Slta is cruelly rejected and forced to prove her loyalty to him by stepping into the
fire. Despite having won her fire trial, she endures mistreatment and desertion at the hands of
her husband Rama, who is more concerned with the opinions of his subjects than with his
wife. She continues to submit to her husband's wishes for the most of her suffering. Finally,
instead of returning to him, she gives up on life and is absorbed by the Earth, her mother, a
deed that essentially ends the tale. On the other side, Draupadl is frequently combative and
vocal. In one event, which is detailed below, she brutally chastises one of her husbands,
Bhimasena, for failing to protect her from her would-be attacker Kicika, the brother-in-law of
King Virata. Sita's behaviour and character—not Draupadi's—are what Hindu society
considers to be the standard. The Valmiki Ramayana’s account of Rama and Sita's love story
offers no support for the idealisation of Sita as a wife and mother. The ideal wife that the
Indian culture places such a high value on is not the character in that story. She and Draupadi,
however, are given more tragic and nuanced roles by the epic writers who, in large part,
portray psychological issues of fundamental family strife and fundamental views of a
patriarchal, male-dominated culture toward women (Sutherland, 2).
Draupadi's situation in her marriage is used in the Mahabharata to illustrate the problem of
marriage migration. Arjuna, one of the Pandavas, succeeds in winning Draupadi, the daughter
of King Drupada of Panchaal, in the swayamvara. At her marriage, Draupadi relocates to a
hut in a forest rather than the palace of Hastinapur because the Pandavas, who had been
treacherously driven from Hastinapura by the hostile Kauravas, are there pretending to be
brahmans. Her idea of home is questioned at this point, and she begins to practise adapting
and assimilating to a very foreign environment—a forest—and a life of modest means. She
also travels with the Pandavas to Hastinapur before returning to Indraprastha, where
Draupadi is crowned as the supreme queen in all luxury and glory.
Ramayana's main female protagonist, Sita, is the one whom Rama marries after defeating her
in a swayamvara. Sita is described in most of the current versions of the Ramayana as the
child of mother Earth who was adopted by King Janaka of Mithila, despite disagreements
among historians over the details of her birth and parents. Her portrayal as the ideal wife and
mother, personifying chastity and tolerance, and the definition of womanhood is presented.
Sita's behaviour throughout her trajectory as a wife and mother, which begins with her first
move to Ayodhya as Rama's bride, is the source of the traditional image of her that has been
described above. This is similar to Draupadi. After her husband's fourteen-year banishment,
she begins a new phase of relocation to the Dandhaka forest. It should be noted that when
placing Draupadi and Sita within the context of marriage migration, their continual and
repeated relocation positions them as dependent selves whose mobility is governed by
patriarchy (Ravindran and Das, 4).
The sexual patterns of the women characters in the Ramayana and Mahabharata serve as
indicators of the social reality in which the women lived and the moral code Indian society
had developed to control and judge women's sexuality. These indicators, not only aid in
understanding the socio-cultural and political ethos and norms that shaped the sexual
behaviours of women during that historical period. In the Indian epics Ramayan and
Mahabharata, the enormous range of female sexual behaviour patterns can be roughly divided
into two categories: conformist versus deviant or transgressive versus transcendent.
Transgressions are sexual behaviours that go against accepted cultural and social norms as
well as the moral standards set by society. Transcendence entails abiding by the established
moral code controlling sexual behaviour as well as the established social, cultural, and
conventions. It also implies using sexual encounters to advance to a higher degree of human
consciousness. Characters like Kunti, Satyavati, Shakuntala, Draupadi and Ahalya fall into
the deviant or transgressive category, whereas characters like Savitri, Gndhari, Kaushaly,
Sumitra, Urmila, Mandvi, Anasuya, Ambika, Ambalika, Uttara, Subhadra, etc. correspond to
the conformist or transcendent type. Ġangā, Tatka, Hiḍīṁbā and Śurpaṇkha all exhibit
deviant sexual behaviour, however, it is unclear whether one can judge their behaviour using
the same moral standard because they are members of distinct subcultures. While Śurpaņkha,
Tatka and Hiḍiṁba are members of non-Aryan (the "other") nations that are regulated by a
distinct set of norms and moral standards, Ganga, a river Goddess, is a member of a higher
realm than the ordinary human world (Santwani, 57).
Purity, virginity, chastity, abstinence, ascetic self-denial, detachment from the regular
activities of the human world, and sublimation are the ideals affirmed by the characters
belonging to the conformist or transcendental categories. Because men have the majority of
the authority in such a society, women are forced to abide by its rules, whether they like to or
not, because failing to do so could put their existence in peril. When Pundu convinces Kunti
to have children by calling on the Gods using the mantra Durvsa gave him, he informs Kunti
that women were not previously subject to any sexual morality laws-
“In the olden days, so we hear, women went uncloistered, my lovely wife of the beautiful
eyes; they were their own mistresses, who took their pleasure where it pleased them. From
childhood on they were faithless to their husbands, but yet not lawless, for such was the law
in the olden day.” (MBH, 1(7)). 113. 5).
Numerous authors have reworked the epics from the perspectives of characters whose voices
aren't given much weight in the original texts. Sita, Draupadi, and other epic characters have
been thoroughly examined in a variety of contemporary texts, giving them a multi-
dimensional quality. Sita wasn't just the docile and obedient woman as she was portrayed to
be in the novel In Search of Sita. She also had a thought of her own.
Amish Tripathy has presented Sita in the Ram Chandra Series as a strong, intelligent woman
who is also a skilled administrator and a world-class archer. In a same vein, Sunaina, Sita's
mother, has also been described as dedicated woman carrying the load of administration and
foreign policy. She shows Sita that she is a wise philosopher during their conversation about
life's challenges. Another prominent figure in Ram Chandra Series is Vedvati. She is actually
a ‘Kanyakumari’, a girl who is worshipped as a deity before she reaches puberty. Even
Raavan, who is egocentric, seeks the blessing of another living thing for the first time in his
life due to the size of her aura of personality (Pandey, 28).

3. Rationale:
Myths have always played a significant role, from a civilization governed by superstitious
beliefs to a society that has advanced scientifically; from a child's fairytale-like imagination
to an adult's rational thinking. Similar to their genesis, myths play different roles in different
cultures. These roles are always there in society's subconscious elements; all it takes is a
worthy person to see their value. A culture without myths is a culture without religion. The
truth and value of myths in society and people's lives are constantly up for debate. However,
putting aside this argument, modern mythological writers have communicated their beliefs
that myths are worthwhile through their writings and their ongoing affection for legendary
themes and characters. Themes and circumstances from ancient epics are abundant for
modern writers to reinterpret and recreate. The Mahabharata is a fantastic epic that has long
fascinated people, particularly writers throughout history. The Mahabharata tale never ceases
to fascinate and enchant us. It is a piece of art with lots of room for interpretation and
recreation (Kumar, 1).
It is thought that myth is the driving factor behind culture and civilisation. The successful
transmission of values, ideas, history, and beliefs from one generation to the next ensures the
survival of cultures throughout millennia. Additionally, culture encourages evolution. It
elevates the collective consciousness of the nation. Amish claims in an interview- “we have a
living mythology, unlike Greek or Egyptian mythology for instance. It is because of
modernizing and localising our myths again and again... Myth constructs worldview for
people. It serves as looking glass through which life comes to order. In other words, it
constructs a paradigm so that the apparently chaotic world comes to possess a structure”
(Pandey, 23).
4. Significance:
The project intends to popularise the Old Hindu Epics, foster scholarly conversation about
them, and integrate them into academic curricula. This work will aid in the understanding of
specific mythological figures from a contemporary feminist viewpoint. This study will aid in
the exploration of the subtleties of mental relationships in both legendary and contemporary
settings. It will be useful for facilitating a comparison of the original and replicated
characters. The study will attempt to determine the readers' diverse reactions to this
reincarnation trend and its consequences on contemporary society. Among the other branches
of knowledge, literature that illustrates the diverse range of human experience and broadens
the vista of human vision occupies a higher pedestal. Literature's appeal has increased
because of its fictional quality, which enables readers to experience the unseen and the unfelt.
The stories and characters from the two great epics, The Ramayana and The Mahabharata,
which embody the rich culture of bygone and ancient times, particularly, continue to develop
and have an impact on the Indian psyche. As an example, Joseph Campbell demonstrates:
“Mythology is composed by poets out of their insights and realizations. Mythologies are not
invented; they are found. You can no more tell us what your dream is going to be tonight than
we can invent a myth. Myths come from the mystical region of essential experience” (Myths
of Light, 5). Readers of Indian English fiction are no less astounded to discover a wide
variety of fiction, including retellings, revisionist narratives, and amazing discoveries of
unvoiced protagonists from the golden pages of widely acclaimed Indian stories. This is what
fuels the genre of myth revisionism's explosive growth in popularity throughout this
postmodern era. (Parvathy, 2).
At all levels—moral, social, spiritual, and political—the current moment is riddled with
disorder and deterioration. Everyone is consumed by materialism and the rat race and has lost
all confidence in morality and ethics, which has led to the decline of society. In order to live a
happy, comfortable, and tranquil existence, it is therefore imperative that we revisit our holy
scriptures. It is impossible to overstate the value of our sacred texts, the dharmasastras, which
are replete with ethical knowledge (Pandey, 24).

5. Objectives:
The following are the objectives of the proposed study
● To explore the existential conditions of the Women Characters those are portrayed in
Ancient Hindu Epics.
● To understand the construction of the Indian Women from the study of the Epical
Women Characters and explore the needs of their reconstruction in the modern era.
● To understand the nuances of mental relations in mythical and modern
circumstances.
● To study the selected female characters from a modern feminist perspective.
● To bring about a comparative analysis between the original and the recreated.
6. Methodology:
The method of textual analysis would serve as the study's main foundation. The primary
sources would serve as the foundation for the entire analysis of the research problem. The
writings of a few notable feminist theorists, like Sita Aggarwal, Jasodhara Bagchi, Simon De
Beauvoir, Ashapurna Devi, Gayatri Chakraborty Spivak, etc., would serve as the foundation
for the proposed research's theoretical framework. However, efforts will be made to use the
interview method to concentrate on the group of modern authors who have pioneered the
trend of retelling epics from various points of view. This approach will aid in comprehending
the motivations and factors that led today's writers to establish this literary vogue. It is
important to analyse how these authors have projected the events in their modern books to
see if they have made any significant changes from the original writings. From a feminist
viewpoint, selected writings by chosen authors will be read and analysed. To investigate the
many works connected with the intended study of research, pertinent materials from within
and outside the region will be gathered. One can offer a descriptive analysis of the different
aspects of the object under study with fair treatment.

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