Volume II,Special Issue, April 10, 2026
Volume-II, Special Issue, April, 2026 |
Received: 13.03.2026 | Accepted: 09.04.2026 | ||
Published Online: 10.04.2026 | Page No: | ||
DOI: 10.69655/atmadeep.vol.2.specialissue.W. | |||
মুকুন্দরাম থেকে মহাশ্বেতা: শবর জীবনের প্রান্তিকতা ও অস্তিত্বের লড়াই ড. সারমিন সুলতান, স্বাধীন গবেষক, মুর্শিদাবাদ, পশ্চিমবঙ্গ, ভারত |
From Mukundaram to Mahasweta: Marginalization and the Battle for Survival of the Shabar Community Dr. Sarmin Sultana, Independent Research Scholar, Murshidabad, West Bengal, India | ||
ABSTRACT | ||
Mahasweta Devi’s novel ‘Byadhkhanda’ can be regarded as a modern and historical reinterpretation of Mukundaram Chakrabarti’s ‘Abhayamangal’. In this reinterpretation, Mahasweta Devi relocates the narrative from the realm of divine mythology to the lived history of the marginalized people of the land. According to her perspective, the hunters or the Shabars are the true bearers of history, whose voices Mukundaram Chakrabarti narrated under the overarching framework of the divine glory of the goddess Chandi. In Mukundaram’s text, the miraculous power of the goddess Chandi and the royal success of the hunter-king Kalaketu occupy the central position. Mahasweta Devi, however, shifts the focus toward the lived experiences of the Shabar community—their folk life, forest culture, and the tragic consequences they face with the encroachment of modern civilization. While the image of the hunter’s life in Mukundaram Chakrabarti’s ‘Abhayamangal’ is shaped within the framework of divine intervention, Mahasweta Devi liberates that image from its supernatural aura and re-establishes it within the domain of historical reality. In Mahasweta Devi’s reinterpretation, the characters Kalya and Phuli emerge as representatives of a deprived and exploited tribal society. Their life narratives, which remain only as faint traces or “frames of the past” in Mukundaram’s narrative, are brought to the forefront in her work. The creative background of Mukundaram’s composition thus conceals within the folds of history the suppressed narrative of an oppressed community, transforming it into a profound artistic tension.Therefore, Mahasweta Devi’s Byadhkhanda is not merely a narrative of divine glory; rather, it unfolds as a poignant expression of the silent suffering, protest, and lived realities of the marginalized Shabar community. | ||
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