The village’s patron deity is
the goddess Kenchamma
, who fought a demon on the Kenchamma Hill above Kanthapura ages ago and has protected the villagers ever since. Achakka introduces the village’s numerous residents of all caste.
Who is the main deity of Kanthapura?
The village is believed to be protected by a local deity named
Kenchamma
. She supposedly battled a demon “ages, ages ago” and has protected Kanthapura’s people ever since. The villagers frequently pray to her for help, perform ceremonies to honour her, and thank her for their good fortune.
Which god or goddess is Worshipped in Raja Rao’s Kanthapura?
Goddess Kenchamma domicile
is on the Kenchamma hill is the presiding goddess of Kanthapura village. She protects the villagers from famine and diseases.
Who is the ideal of Moorthy?
Moorthy, the central protagonist of Raja Rao’s novel, is an embodiment of the spirit of Gandhi. He is a “quiet, generous, serene, deferent” college drop-out, who becomes the torch-bearer of Gandhian ideals for the village of
Kanthapura
.
Who is Venkamma Kanthapura?
A bitter and loquacious brahmin woman in the village, Venkamma is
the Gandhian campaign’s most vocal and open critic
.
Fiction by
Raja Rao
Raja Rao’s
Kanthapura is one of the finest novels to come out of mid-twentieth century India. It is the story of how Gandhi’s struggle for independence from the British came to a typical village, Kanthapura, in South India.
What is the theme of Kanthapura by Raja Rao?
The theme of Kanthapura is
the unification of different Indian castes under a Gandhian system of social justice during the fight against British rule of India
. At the beginning of the novel, Kanthapura, a rural Indian village, is divided by caste.
What type of Indian society is presented in Kanthapura?
In the novel, the village of Kanthapura is represented as
a microcosm of India
in which the past cultural systems, reinvigorated by Gandhian ideology, are used to create a sense of national belonging and collective destiny as the foundation for the struggle for independence.
Who is Narsamma in Kanthapura?
Moorthy’s pious,
elderly mother
who steadfastly opposes his anti-caste positions and wants him to marry the daughter of a wealthy brahmin family. She is furious when Moorthy rejects marriage proposals and kicks him out of the house when he shows up with khadi cloth and books about Gandhism.
What are the main features of Raja Rao’s narrative technique in Kanthapura?
Raja Rao’s Kanthapura is
straight forward narrative
, and he sometimes uses flashback technique in order to give stylistic effect to the narrative. Achakka narrates the story of her past life to her grand-children. She tells the story in a very confusing manner due to her oldness.
What kind of man is the new sahib Kanthapura?
The original head of the Skeffington Coffee Estate, the Sahib is
a cruel and violent profiteer
who exemplifies colonial greed in India.
What kind of caste divisions are there in Kanthapura?
Ans. There is
a clear-cut caste
-divide in the village Kanthapura. The houses in this village are divided in five quarters: the Brahmins’ quarter, the Potters’ quarter, the Weavers quarter, the Pariahs’ quarter and the Sudras’ quarter.
How does Raja Rao describe Kanthapura in the foreword to the novel?
In the preface of his classic Kanthapura, first published in 1938, Raja Rao writes, “We cannot write like the English. …
We cannot write only as Indians. Our method of expression… has to be a dialect which will some day prove to be as distinctive and colourful as the Irish and the American. Time alone will justify it.”
Why novel Kanthapura is considered as Sthala Purana?
‘Kanthapura’ is a Gandhian saga which appears more as a ‘sthala-purana’.
It is dominated by the place and not by the people
. Raja Rao has not created any heores or heroines in this novel. … The novel deals with its topography, its products, its myths and legends, its religion and society and its caste-ridden people.
Which river appears in Raja Roos Kanthapura?
“Kanthapura Symbols:
The River Himavathy
.” LitCharts.
How long was Moorthy imprisoned?
Moorthy is sentenced to
three months’
imprisonment, and the wise elder Ramakrishnayya dies after stumbling into a pillar during heavy rains the following day.
Below you will find the important quotes in Kanthapura related to the theme of Gandhism and the Erosion of Caste. Till now I’ve spoken only of the Brahmin quarter. Our village had a
Pariah quarter too
, a Potters’ quarter, a Weavers’ quarter, and a Sudra quarter. How many huts had we there?
How does Raja Rao describe the village in the beginning of his novel Kanthapura?
The novel begins with a vivid description of the
village Kanthapura which is “high on the Ghats” and “in the province of Kara”
(Rao, Raja. Kanthapura. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1993: 1).
Who coined the epithet the Big Three for Mulk Raj Anand RK Narayan and Raja Rao?
The three name usually mentioned in literary circles in this context are Mulk Raj Anand, Narayan and Raja Rao. They are known as “The Big Three” an epithet coined by
the noted English critic William Walsh
. These three have laid the strong foundation for Indian Fiction in English.
How long does the movement run in novel Kanthapura?
Kanthapura is a novel dealing with the impact of the Gandhian freedom struggle on a remote South Indian village of that name and what happens in Kanthapura was happening all over India in those stirring years from
1919 to 1931
of the Gandhian non- violent, non – co – operation movement for the independence of the …
Who is the mystery of Skeffington Coffee Estate?
3.3 THE SKEFFINGTON COFFEE ESTATE
As a counterpoise to the village in Kanthapura,
Raja Rao
presents the Skeffington Coffee Estate. The village stands for the Indian values, traditions, myths, faith and influence of the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi.
Why was Moorthy excommunicated from his community?
He excommunicates Moorthy for
“polluting” the caste system by “mixing with the pariahs
.” Although he never directly appears in the book, he is incredibly powerful and exemplifies the decentralized, distant mechanisms of colonial rule.
Is Kanthapura a real village?
The village of Kanthapura consists of about 120 houses, and perhaps 700 people, geographically divided between five main castes: the priestly Brahmins at the top, followed by two types of tradesmen (potters and weavers), sudras (laborers) and pariahs (untouchables).
How many houses are there in Kanthapura?
There are
24 houses
in Kanthapura, from Postmaster Suryanarayana’s large two-story home to much smaller ones that “were really not bad to look at” and Patwari Nanjundia’s, which has a fabulous veranda.
