INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND SCIENTIFIC INNOVATION (IJRSI)
ISSN No. 2321-2705 | DOI: 10.51244/IJRSI |Volume XII Issue X October 2025
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Integration of Indian Culture and Myth in Girish Karnad’s Plays
Dr. B. Subhashini
Assistant Professor, Department of English and Foreign Languages
DOI: https://doi.org/10.51244/IJRSI.2025.1210000087
Received: 18 June 2025; Accepted: 24 June 2025; Published: 05 November 2025
INTRODUCTION
Girish Karnad was a renowned Indian dramatist, actor, and filmmaker. He was one of the most appreciated
dramatists of the modern era and contributed remarkably to Indian theatre. By combining traditional Indian
narrative with cultural sensibilities, Karnad's plays have examined intricate subjects like myth, history, and
troubled identities. Throughout his career, Girish Karnad transcribed several widely recognized plays.
His plays demonstrate his extraordinary narrative skills and ability to address various subjects, from history
and mythology to social concerns and personal identities. In addition to freshly presenting myths, Karnad's
plays often address social issues, exhibiting his in-depth knowledge of human psychology and skill at
observing social behaviour.
His works on art, culture, theatre, and drama have made him valuable to the Indian literary landscape.
However, his endeavour to capture the rich cultural and mythological heritage of the Indian past is the most
significant contribution he has made to Indian English drama. This article will draw emphasize on Karnad's
contribution in this regard. He tries to restore the local culture and traditions by going back to their origins in
his plays. India is a post-colonial nation with a distinct culture and history of colonization. It is also multi-
cultural in that it has brought about indigenous customs, culture, and philosophy that are unfortunately
suppressed and defeated.
Blending of Myth and Culture
With his artistic talent, Karnad combines myth realism, the past and present, and illustrates the interconnected
aspects of contemporary life, causing the audience to react to the play's action more intellectually than
emotionally. The revival of western literature had a strong influence on Karnad's writing. Karnad experienced
a number of things during his early years that greatly influenced his theatrical taste and brilliance. One of the
things that happened to him was the fact that he became acquainted to a literary scene in which local and
western traditions were directly at odds. Karnad had a specific goal in mind when he took use of Indian
mythology.
Ancient folktales serve as the basis for Girish Karnad's works. The term "ancient tales" refers to something that
has been passed down or practiced throughout time and is frequently connected to long-standing traditions,
beliefs, or practices within a specific culture or civilization. Usually, it suggests consistency and conformity to
long-standing customs or conventions. "Traditional" can be used to characterize different facets of life,
including traditional values, ceremonies, music, food, and attire. It stands for safeguarding historical
significance and associating with the past.
Tutun Mukherjee argues that Karnad has "made available thee rich resources of the great and little tradition,
the classical and the folk elements of Indian literature," highlighting his significant contribution to the
resurgence of folk theatre. Karnard has attempted to depict modern society and its plight in his numerous
plays, but he has also made extensive use of several cliched folktales and folk theater techniques and devices,
such as masks, chorus, dolls, curtains, commentators, narrators, story-within-a-story, supernatural elements,
etc. Drawing influence from Indian mythology and culture, Karnad is renowned for blending legendary themes
and characters into his writing. His plays are based on mythical dramas and are among his best-known works.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND SCIENTIFIC INNOVATION (IJRSI)
ISSN No. 2321-2705 | DOI: 10.51244/IJRSI |Volume XII Issue X October 2025
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Challenging themes in Karnad’s plays
His plays contain significant Indian themes and everyday phrases in Karnad's writings. They display
indigenous customs and culture. By tackling contemporary societal challenges, Karnad can make his topics
universal even if his plays significantly influence the literary legacy of ancient India. He writes plays that have
a proper beginning, middle, and end. He has developed brilliant characters with admirable ideas. His plays use
straightforward, aphoristic language that blends contemporary, regional, and local terms. Karnad's playwriting
aims to provide Indian heritage with a new worldwide identity.
His plays, Hayavadana and Nagamandala, surpass cultural barriers and speak to audiences of different ages by
exploring challenging societal themes and human emotions. By connecting the past and present and enhancing
the artistic landscape with his distinctive storylines, Karnad's blending of traditional and modern elements has
made a vital contribution to the development of Indian drama. Karnad has explored a wide range of topics and
offered literature an alternative viewpoint. In addition to incorporating mythology into his plays, he also used a
contemporary method to come up with new concepts. He demonstrates in Yayati how a man's desires have the
power to ruin everything. In a similar vein, he plays Padmini in Hayavadana, a driven lady who disrupts his
company's life in pursuit of fulfillment.
In his works, Karnad has given both his male and female characters equal possibilities. Comparatively
speaking to the king, both queens in Bali: The Sacrifice have a strong stage presence. The young queen
represents a contemporary collective attitude, while the elderly queen represents traditional ideals. The
challenges of the generational divide are also portrayed in this drama. According to the legendary story, Yayati
offered youth in return for his son's youth after being cursed with early old age. Yayati's catastrophic
fault resulted from his quest for power and pleasure. By the play's conclusion, he embraces the way of
salvation and restores his son's youth.
Meditation of Human aspiration in Hayavadana
Hayavadana explores the intricate mysteries of human nature, love, and identity. Devadatta, Kapila, and
Padmini are the three main protagonists in the myth. Both Devadatta and Kapila love Padmini, an enchanting
and moral woman; Devadatta is a scholar renowned for his knowledge; while Kapila is a warrior renowned for
his physical prowess. When Kapila and Devadatta become close friends but each feels weak in one way—
Kapila thinks he lacks intelligence, while Devadatta thinks he lacks physical strength—a conflict arises. They
encounter a horse's head in their attempt to overcome their supposed shortcomings, and it fulfills their desires.
Whereas Devadatta, who longs for physical power, connects the horse's head to his body, Kapila, who longs
for wisdom, attaches the horse's body to his head, Kapila, who longs for intelligence, attaches the horse's head
to his body. But because Padmini is caught between the two changed people, this body part exchange creates a
complicated love triangle. Padmini's mental state is described with a blend of sadness and humour with
suitable symbolism. The characters' names and themes of the play are symbolic.
His imagination is provided with adequate space by the identity crisis challenge. Karnad also depicts the plight
of Padmini, a strong, contemporary lady. A woman who adores both her spouse and his friend for two different
sides of their personalities, she finds herself caught between two polarities. Padmini gets the best of both men
after the head-to-head exchange, but she gradually comes to terms with reality. Her love is only a craving for
sensual pleasure; it lacks any spirituality. As Satish Kumar notes in response to Padmini's longing for Kapila,
"Padmini lives for herself; for the satiation of her sensuality" (30). It has become pointless for her to try to find
fulfillment in her partner.
She eventually realizes a basic truth that since there are so many imperfect people in the world, perfection is
unattainable. Similarly, the Goddess transforms the horse-headed man, Hayavadana, into a complete horse
rather than a complete man. The tale dives into themes of the nature of wholeness, the limitations of physical
and intellectual attributes, and the illusive search of perfection. It acts as a meditation on the complexity of
human aspirations and the fallout that results from attempting to satisfy them. On the other hand, Karnad based
his theme in this drama on traditional myth. The ambitious nature of the Pamini female character and her
pursuit of wholeness demonstrate the playwright's modern outlook.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND SCIENTIFIC INNOVATION (IJRSI)
ISSN No. 2321-2705 | DOI: 10.51244/IJRSI |Volume XII Issue X October 2025
Page 986
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Karnad makes an excellent use of the contemporary woman who refused to sacrifice her desires for the sake of
duty and society. Padmini never lost her sense of self. Karnad is "modern and the conventions and motifs of
folk art and curtains to project a world of intensities, uncertainties, and unpredictable denouement," claims K.
R. Srinivasa Iyengar (736). They encounter a horse's head in their attempt to overcome their perceived
shortcomings, and it fulfills their desires. Whereas Devadatta, who longs for physical strength, attaches the
horse's body to his head, Kapila, who longs for intelligence, attaches the horse's head to his body. But because
Padmini is caught between the two changed people, this body part exchange creates a complicated love
triangle.
Intricacies of Human Impulses in Nagamandala
Karnad’s next play Nagamandala examines themes of desire, suppression, belonging, and the power of
narrative by fusing an oral tradition with interior reality within a gender hierarchy. The play revolves around
several topics, including power dynamics in relationships, modernity, and social constraints. Nagamandala
explores the struggle between tradition and advancement and women's freedom and liberation in an evolving
society. It offers a contemporary viewpoint on love, desire, and social conventions while exploring the
intricacies of human impulses and the effects of repressing them. The female lead in this drama, Rani,
demonstrates Karnad's liberal outlook.
In his plays, Karnad expresses meaning for modern life through myth. The importance of myth, in his opinion,
never fades. In a time of globalization and postmodernism, he sees people's obsession with materialism and
imitation of western culture. He elevated myths, parables, stories, and folklore in his plays. In his plays, he
rewrites them because they offer a great deal of room for living. In his plays, he employs mythical scenes, but
he primarily seeks to use them for philosophical, religious, and social ends. He introduces certain mythical
scenes from the Mahabharata and places them in the perspective of modern-day human affairs. Karnad
addresses mythical events and applies a modern interpretation to them. In his plays, he connects the natural
and mystical occurrences in human conditions with the ancient ant and the contemporary dramatic heritage.
CONCLUSION
In the field of dramatic literature, Girish Karnad's plays recreate an intricate weaving of cultural fusion. Indian
mythology, tradition, history, and modern society are just a few of the cultures that Karnad expertly combines
to produce stories that appeal to a wide range of viewers. Themes of one's cultural identity, tradition,
modernization, and the clash of many belief systems are all explored in his writings. Karnad's plays honor
variety and foster greater comprehension of the subtleties and complexity of human lives by fusing many
cultural influences. Karnad's plays combine aspects of individualism and universalism. He has revitalized
ancient themes. His contributions to art, culture, theatre, and drama have enhanced the Indian literary
landscape (Dhawan 19).
Karnad connects the archetype and the real, the past and the present. The myths and stories of the past provide
new insights and meaning through analogy, strengthening the topic of contemporary issues. Myths offer
glimpses of life and its enigma by extending beyond temporal and spatial boundaries. Their multi-layers of
meaning, ageless nature, and relevance to current events make them essential components of the land's cultural
awareness.
REFERENCES
1. Babu, Manchi Sarat. “Indian Drama Today: A study in the Theme of cultural Deformity.” New Delhi:
Prestige Books, 1997.
2. Dhawan, R. K. “Girish Karnad: The Man and the Writer,” The Plays of Girish Karnad: Critical
Perspectives. Ed. Jaydip Singh Dodiya. New Delhi: Prestige Books, 1999.
3. Iyengar, Srinivasa K. R. Indian Writing in English. Rpt. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers Pvt., 1989.736.
4. Karnad, Girish, Collected Plays Volume One, Oxford University Press, New Delhi
https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cultural_Anthropology/Ritual_and_Religion
5. https://www.rairarubiabooks.com/related-pdf-indian-dramatic-tradition.html
