The magic of three witches...

Review of In thunder, lightning and rain a documentary by Rajesh James

In the clamorous noise of carnival, the glimpse of three smiles catch the eyes of viewers that tell a long threshold of stories. The documentary, In thunder, lightning and rain, an excellent work by the Kochi based documentary maker and film researcher Rajesh James, takes the audience to a different arena of life. The documentary takes you to the lives of three women who fought the odds of their life with valour and will. Seena C.V the footballer, Ammini Amma the fisher and Selina Michael the cremator, tell their story and the camera captures it beautifully and responsibly.

The film starts from the shot of Kochi new year carnival where the three women came to witness and be part of it. They express their joy to share the vast space of celebration, joy and togetherness that is contradictory to their lives and circumstances. The women unveil their story in the form of answers to the questions asked by the crew. The realistic portrayal of the life and emotions of the three, who fought to create a space of their own, in the society which always ridiculed the unique persons, makes the film a genuinely skilled work.

The narrative sequence begins with section Thunder that shows Seena C. V the only woman football coach in Kochi. The determination sparked in her narration attracts the audience. The second section named Rain shows Ammini Amma, a fisher and folksinger who talks in Universities about agriculture, farming and folk culture. Lightning, the third section introduces Selina Michel, the cremator of thrikkakkara crematorium who had cremated near 4000 dead bodies.

All the three are unique and special in stereotypical world of humans and that's why the film compare them to the witches in Shakespearean drama. They represent the desire to live life inspite of any adversity. Their perspective towards life and simplicity in living an unusual life deserve appreciation from hearts. The film captures real smiles, real worries and real strength of these women who fight and survive their obstacles will courage and determination. The documentary returns to the carnival in the end as the three women witness the burning of Pappanji and welcome a newyear.

The way of presentation and selection of concept deserve appreciation but the gem of the matter is that the film never forces any of the viewer to realize or appreciate the three. They are heros, it is not to be said, but felt. The viewer feels the struggle, the gains, the loses, the smiles, the sadness and the pride of the three immensely strong willed women. 

The film was produced by Preeya Nair and K.C Abraham. Jibin Jose did a fantastic work in cinematography and Lithin Paul was the editor. The documentary was premiered at Ppeloponnisos International Documentary Festival at Kalamata, Greece on January 24, 2018.

Thank you. 

WOMEN CHARACTERS OF RAMAYANA

 

WOMEN CHARACTERS OF RAMAYANA

 

Ramayana, the Epic text known as the story of Rama’s journey (Rama’s  Ayana) presents a strong band of women who display an array of fine qualities. But the disappointing fact about these characters are that most of them are forgotten in the course of time and lost their presence in many translations and adaptations of Ramayana. Only a few characters like, Sita, Kaikeyi, Manthara, Kausalya and Mandodari got the prominent spotlight even though the other women characters are as unique as these women. Even in Valmiki Ramayana the focus was on the life events of Rama and  most of the women characters appear in the events without proper description or history. Even their life after the encounter with Rama or their death was not mentioned in the Epic. 

Ramayana have an immense number of translations not only in Indian languages, but also occupy a definite place in many foreign languages and literature. The excessive number of these texts shows variety of plot changes and character descriptions. But by referring to the most common version of stories of Ramayana, here we are presenting you the major 25 women characters of Ramayana. A small description is given along with each one that may give you a basic idea of the characters.

Ramayana is not just the story of Rama, but also of numerable characters  who shaped the epic in their own way. So let’s meet some strong, brilliant, courageous and determined women in Ramayana. Read them, Remember them, Revive them.

 

·        Indumathi – Mother of Dasarath. She was the princess of Vidarbha and daughter of King Bhoja. She was an angel named Harini who was cursed to born as a human by a saint. She born as a human and married Aja, King of Kosala and gave birth to Dasarath. She was freed from the curse when she died as the garland of Devrishi Narath fell on her as he was passing through the sky. Dasarath was only 8 months old when she died and out of grief Aja committed suicide as he loved her immensely.

 

·        Kausalya – First wife of Dasarath. She as the princess of Kosala kingdom and the daughter of King Sukaushal and Queen Amritaprabha. She had a brother named Bhanumatha and a sister named Vershini (Wife of Lompada, King of Ang Desh and fostermother of Santha) . She had a daughter named Shantha and a son, Rama from Dasarath.

 

·        Kaikeyi – Wife of Dasarath. She was the daughter of Ashwapati, the King of Kekaya kingdom. She had 4 brothers including Yudhajit and she had a son named Bharath from Dasarath. She met king Dasarath in Kashmir and fell in love. She fell under the influence of Mandhara and became the reason of Rama’s exile.

 

·        Sumithra – Wife of Dasarath. She was the princess of Kashi and the mother of Lakshmana and Shatrughana.

 

·        Santha – Daughter of Dasarath and Kausalya. She was the elder sister of Rama and other 3 brothers. She was taken care by her foster parents, King Lompada of Ang Desh and his wife Vershini. She was married to Rishyashringa, son of sage Vibhandaka. She was mentioned in Mahabhratha more than Ramayana.

 

·        Sita – Sita is considered as the incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi and the daughter of Goddess Earth (Bhumi \ Prithvi). She was raised by King Janaka of Videha (Mithila) and his wife Queen Sunaina. She had a younger sister named Urmila. She was married to the prince of Ayodhya, Rama in a swayamvara. Sita was also known as Janaki (daughter of Janaka), Maithili (princess of Mithila) and Vaidehi (princess of Videha). She returned to the womb of her mother Earth (dies) after reuniting her sons Lava and Kusha with Rama. Mandavi (wife of Bharath) and Shrutakirti (wife of Shatrughana) were Sita’s cousin sisters.

 

·        Mandavi – Wife of Bharath. She was the daughter of King Kushadhwaja of Sankasya and Queen Chandrabhaga. She had a sister named Shrutakirti and Sita was their cousin sister. She had two sons Taksha and Pushkala with Bharath.

 

·        Urmila – Wife of Lakshmana. She was the daughter of King Janaka of Mithila and Queen Sunaina. She was the younger sister of Sita. She had two sons named Angada and Chandraketu. She waited for Lakshmana during the time of Rama’s 14 years exile along with Sita and Lakshmana. She stayed in the palace taking care of Dasarath and his wives.

 

·        Shrutakirti – Wife of Shatrughana. They had two sons, Shatrughati and Subahu. She was the daughter of King Kushadhwaja of Sankasya and Queen Chandrabhaga.

·         Sunaina – Wife of King Janaka of Mithila. She was the mother of Urmila and foster mother of Sita. She was believed to be born from the tear of Servent King Vasuki and raised by River Goddess Narmala under the guidance of Devi Parvati.

 

·         Mandodari – Wife of Ravana. She was the daughter of Mayasura, King of Asuras and an apsara named Hema. She is considered to be one of the Panchakanya. She had two sons Meghanad and Akshayakumara. After the death of Ravana, she was requested to marry Vibhishana by Lord Rama. But the marriage was mentioned in Ramayana.

 

·         Dhanyamalini – Second wife of Ravana. They had 5 sons named Atikaya, Narantaka, Devantaka, Trishira and Prahastha. She was the daughter of Mayasura and Hema and sister of Mandodari.

 

·         Vajramala – Wife of Kumbhakarna. She had two sons named Kumba and Nikumba. She was the daughter of Mahabali, granddaughter of Virochana and great granddaughter of  Prahlada. She had two siblings named Banasura and Ratanamala.

 

·          Karkati – Wife of Kumbhakarna. She had a son named Bhimasura. She was the princess of Sayadri.

 

·          Sarama – Wife of Vibhishana. They had a daughter named Trijata. Sarama was the daughter of Shaileesha. She was in duty of Sita’s protection while she was in Lanka. She behaved very friendly with Sita.

 

·         Surpanakha – Sister of Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Vibhishansa. She was the daughter of Rishi Vishrava and Kaikashi. Her real name was Meenakshi. She was married to a Danava named Vidyatjuhva (Dushtabudhi) and had a son Shambhri. Later Vidyatjuhva was killed by Ravana and Meenakshi was left to live in forest. She was mutilated by Lakshmana as she attacked Sita, enraged by the rejection of  Rama and Lakshmana.

 

·        Trijata – Daughter of Vibhishana and Sarama. Like her mother she was also a friendly companion to Sita while she was in Lanka. She was in duty of security of Sita in Lanka.

 

·        Sulochana – Wife of Meghanad, son of Ravana. She was the daughter of King of serpents, Vasuki. She was believed to be born from the tears of Vasuki along with her sister Sunaina ( Sita’s foster mother ). She was also called as Pramila.

 

·        Tara – Wife of Bali, King of Kishkinda. She was the daughter of Vanara Physician Sushena. She had a son named Angada from Bali. After the death of Bali, she married his brother Sugriva.

 

·        Ruma – Wife of Sugriva. She was taken as wife by Bali as a punishment when he came to know Sugriva made Tara as his wife when Bali wasn’t present  in Kishkinda.

 

·        Kaikeshi – Mother of Ravana.  She was the daughter of Ravana king Sumali and Gandharva princess Ketumashi. She married a sage Vishrava and had 3 sons ( Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Vibhishana) and a daughter ( Meenakshi – Surpankha).

 

·        Manthara – The maid of Queen Kaikeyi. She took care of  Kaikeyi from her childhood and came to Ayodhya when she was married to Dasarath. Her excessive loyalty towards Kaikeyi leads to the major turning point of the story.

 

·        Anjana – Mother of Hanuman. She was an apasara named Punjikastala, later she was born on Earth as a Vanara princess named Anjana. She married a Vanara chief Kesari and Hanuman was born to her as a blessing of Lord Shiva carried to her through Lord of wind Vayu.

 

·        Tataka -  Tataka was a beautiful woman who was transformed to a Rakshasi once she tried to seduce Sage Agastya. She tortured, killed and drank the blood of creatures. Her curse was broken by Rama, when he slayed her.

 

·        Menaka – Menaka was born during the churning of the ocean by the Devas and Asuras. She was an apsara who was sent to Earth to seduce Sage Viswamitra. But they fell in love and had a daughter Shakuntala. Shakuntala’s son Bharath was an ancestor of  Pandavas and Kauravas. Their story is mentioned in Bala Kanda of Ramayana. 

 

 

Here is, the 25 fierce women who stood with dignity, filled with love and lived a meaningful life. The lost importance through ages never diminished their truth. The descriptions shows how important each of them, even though they are not fully presented in its completeness. The characters stay as pillars to the story and the plot changes. Each of them represents definite qualities and displays traits of true human emotions. The different shades of perspective, decisions and existence make these characters display an universal approach of human behavior.  The chaos, the determination and the sense of sacrifice of these characters makes Ramayana not only Rama’s Journey but also their own Journey in an unique manner. 

Thank you. 

Women Characters of Mahabharata

 Women Characters of Mahabharata

Mahabharata, the grand epic of Indian mythology consists of great women characters that displayed valour, strength, willpower, persistence and determination. As a tale of generations, it portrayed various characters of different age, class, notion and purpose. The women characters  in Mahabharata can be considered as less mentioned or detailed in comparison to male characters. As a story focuses more on power, politics and war, the major highlight was given to male characters in Kuru dynasty. The exception to this was the characters like Draupadi, Kunti, Gandhari, Sathyavati, Amba (Shikhandi), Ambika and Ambalika.

These characters received much more attention than other women in Mahabharata. The women characters who got a consistent importance in the epic are Draupadi, Kunti and Gandhari. When Draupadi who married the main five characters showed her presence throughout the story, Kunti was depicted with a past story who seems to be the turning point of all action by attaining the boon from sage Durvasa. Gandhari who rise to action by giving birth to Kauravas is also have a role in the change of cause as her marriage to Dhritharastra is a major reason behind Shakuni's hatred towards Kuru kingdom.

Sathyavathi (the grandmother of Pandavas and Kauravas ), Shikandi (the vengeful Amba who became the reason for Bhishma), Ambika and Ambalika (mother of Dhritharashtra and Pandu respectively) play important roles in the epic. But the other women characters somehow lost their glow when Vyasa gave prominence to male characters, their back stories and description. Many women characters who stayed as the backbone to the male characters were diminished in the course of time and ignored from translations and retellings of the epic.

The great mothers who gave birth to warriors, the wives whose sacrifice made the foundation for their husband's praise, the daughters who even forget to mention more than once are still hidden somewhere in the great book. Mahabharata is not only a tale of men with valour but also of women with attitude. They pose immense excellence, grace with quality and determination with sacrifice. Here, in this article we are mentioning 30 women characters of Mahabharata who were forgot or given less importance. As each version of the tale have different style of narration, the names and description may vary in some stances. Still, let's go through the basic information about these great women. 

1) Devika
Wife of Yudhishthira. She was the daughter of Govasana (Sibi), the king of Sivi nation from Saivya tribe. She married Yudhishthira through swayamvara and had a son named Yaudheya. She was mentioned by Vyasa in Adi Parva of Mahabharata.

2) Nari
Wife of Yudhishthira. She was the daughter of Meru savarani. She was barely mentioned in Mahabharata.

3) Hidimba (Hidimbi)
Wife of Bhima. Her real name is Salkatankati. She was the sister of Raksha king Hidimbasura. Bhima married her after killing her brother on a Chaitra Shukla Dwitiya while the pandavas while on exile with their mother. They had a son named Ghatotkacha. Bhima left them in the forest when he returned to the palace with his brothers and mother. Hidimba never remarried. Bhima returned only in the time of Kurushetra war for asking the assistance of Ghatotkacha who grew up to the master in war and magic. Ghatotkacha was killed by Karna when Yudhishthira replaced him to protect Arjuna from vital weapon gifted to Karna by Indra.

4) Jalandhara (Valandhara)
Wife of Bhima. She was the daughter of Abhibhu, the king of Kashi. She had a son named Sarvaga (Suvarnavarma). She had a brother Prakant and a sister Bhanumati (wife of Duryodhana).

5) Ulupi
Wife of Arjuna. She was a Naga princess, the daughter of Naga king Koravya. She had a son named Iravan. 

6) Chitrangana
Wife of Arjuna. She was the daughter of  Chitravagana,the king of Manipur. She had a son named Babhuruvahana.

7) Subhadra
Wife of Arjuna. She was the sister of Krishna and Balarama. She was eighteen when she got married with Arjuna who was thirty six years old then. Abhimanyu was their son and he was killed in the Kurushetra war by being trapped in a Chakravyuha created by Kaurava force.

8) Karenumati
Wife of Nakula. She was the daughter of Sisupala, the king of Ched and the sister of Dhristaketu. She had a son named Niramitra.

9) Vijaya (Dyutimati)
Wife of Sahadeva. She was the daughter of Dyutmat (Salya), the king of Madra. Salya was the brother of Madri and the maternal uncle of Sahadeva and Nakula. She had three brothers named Rukamrutha, Vajra and Ajaya. Her son's name was Suhotra.

10) Bhanumati
Wife of Duryodhana. They had twins - Lakmana kumara (son) and Lakshmanaa (daughter). Lakshmanaa was married to Samba, the son of Krishna. Bhanumati  was mentioned as the daughter of king of Kashi in some sources, a daughter of Kalinga king Chitrangada in some and as the daughter of Bhagadatta, the king of Pragjyotishya in another sources. The proper explanation is still not clear as the details of Bhanumati is not explained well in Mahabharata.

11) Vrushali (Padmavati)
Wife of karna. She was the sister of Duryodhana's Charioteer Sathyasena. When Karna died, she jumped to his pyre and finished her life along with her husband.

12) Supriya
Wife of Karna. She was a friend of Bhanumati, wife of Duryodhana. Her son named Vrishaketu was the only son of Karna who survived Kurushetra war. Later he was patronaged by Arjuna.

13) Madri
Wife of Pandu.  She was the princess of Madra kingdom and sister of Shalya. She was the mother Nakula and Sahadeva. She committed Sati when Pandu died.

14) Revathi
Wife of Balarama. She was the daughter of Kakudmi, the king of Kusasthali. They had two sons and a daughter named Nisatha, Ulmuka and Sasirekha respectively. Sasirekha was married to Abhimanyu, the son of Arjuna.

15) Dussala
Daughter of Dhritharastra. She was the only sister of Duryodhana and other kauravas. She was married to Jayadratha, the king of Sindhu.  They had a son named Suratha. 

16) Arshi
Wife of Shakuni. They had two sons, Uluka and Vrikaasur.

17) Parishrami
Mother of Vidura (halfbrother of Dhritharastra and Pandu). She was a maid of Ambika and Ambalika. When Vyasa came to bless Ambika and Ambalika with children, they were horrified by the appearance of the sage. Ambika closed her eyes at first sight, so she got the blind child Dhritharastra. Ambalika's face went pale and she got child with pale face, Pandu. But the maid Parishrami who served him well was blessed by Vyasa with a child of wisdom that is Vidura.

18) Sugada (Sauvali/Saubali/Visakha)
Gandhari's maid. She had a son named Yuyutsu from Dhritharastra. He was the only Kaurava who survived the Kurushetra war. He was a messenger of Pandavas and sided them from the beginning of the war. (Kauravas - total 102 - 100 sons of Gandhari, Yuyutsu and Dussala).

19) Sulabha
Wife of Vidura, the halfbrother of Dhritharastra and Pandu. She was the daughter of King Devaka, born in a Shudra woman.

20) Suthanu
Daughter of Yudhishthira and Draupadi. She was married to Krishna and Sathyabhama's son Bhanu. She was the only living heir of Draupadi that survived the war. Suthanu had a son named Vajra.

21) Lakshmanaa
Daughter of Duryodhana and Bhanumati. She had a twin brother named Lakshmana kumara. She was married to Krishna and Jambavathi's son Samba. Samba abducted Lakshmanaa in between of her swayamvara. Later they were caught and Balarama persuaded everyone and attained the consent for their marriage.

22) Charumati
Daughter of Krishna and Rukmini. She was married to Bali, son of Kritavarma ( a Yadava warrior and relative of Krishna).

23) Kripi
Wife of Dronacharya and mother of Aswadhamav. She was the daughter of Saradhan and Janapadi (an apsara). She was also the sister of Kripacharya.

24) Uttara
Wife of Abhimanyu. She was the daughter of Virata, the king of Virata. She had two brothers named Uttar and Sweta. She was the mother of Parikshit who later became the king of Kuru kingdom.

25) Ahilawathi
Wife of Ghatotkacha, the son of Bhima and Hidumbhi. She was the daughter of the snake king, Bashak (the snake around the neck of Shiva.) She had a son named Barbarika.

26) Madramati
Wife of Parikshit. Daughter - in - law of Abhimanyu and Uttara. They had four sons named Janamejaya, Bhimasena, Srutasena and Ugrasena.

27) Manimala
Wife of Janamejaya, son of Parikshit. She was the daughter of Thakshak, the snake king.

28) Bhadra
Wife of Yuyutsu, son of Dhritharastra from a maid, Sugada.

29) Yogmaya
A goddess who helps Vishnu in creating and expanding his maya. She warned Kamsa about his death and born as Yasoda's daughter who was replaced by Vasudeva instead of Krishna. When Kamsa tried to kill tge child, she flied into the sky and transformed inti a goddess with eight hands (Ashtabhuja Swaroop). Later she was born as Subhadra (sister of Krishna and Balarama).

30) Dewi Anggraini

Wife of Ekalavya, the son of Devashrava (brother of Vasudeva). As per Indonesian folklore, Krishna killed Ekalavya, when he helped Jarasandha and Sisupala in the search of Rukmini who eloped with Krishna. After the death of Ekalavya, Arjuna tries to tempt Dewi Anggraini. But she remains faithful and chaste till the end of her life. Ekalavya and Dewi had several sons. 


Hope you enjoy the article, Thank you.