Myth Rituals and Techniques in the Plays of Girish Karnad
Abstract
Girish Karnad’s plays flourish with the elements of myth. In this paper the researcher tried to presentthe handling of myth, ritual and techniques in the plays of Naga-Mandala, Hayavadana & The fire and the Rain of Girish Karnad. The main concern is to find out how far the mythical, Ritualistic elements & the techniques have been exploited by the dramatist to portray the socio cultural problems and the response ofthe society. In all his plays-be mythical, historical or legendary–Karnad’s approach is modern. In his play, Hayavadana, he reinforces the central problem of human existence in a world of tangled relationships. In Hayavadana, he skillfully uses the principles and theme of Indian mythology, folk tales and folk theatre-masks, curtains, dolls, the story-within-a-story—to create a bizarre world of incomplete individuals, in different gods, dolls that speak and children who cannot–world which appears to be indifferent to the desires and frustrations, joys and sorrows of human beings. In the play Fire and the Rain the author show cases on the passionately opposing elements; the rains of human love and sacrifices. It abounds in its hard-woven texture the riches of psychology, the hate and the jealousy of man against man, father againsts on, wife against husband and so on. It is concluded that although the ending of the plays is not within the orthodoxy of Indian epic texts and Hindu philosophy, it can be seen in the cultural context of Indian woman of today who seeks to fulfill her needs and aspirations. This Paper has made an attempt to study how successfully Karnad has used myth,folk tales and various other techniques to represent his the me in his plays.
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