The Story of a Feminist Woman-Goddess: Re-reading, Re-telling and Ritualizing Draupadi in India Today
The Story of a Feminist Woman-Goddess: Re-reading, Re-telling and Ritualizing Draupadi in India Today

Summary/Abstract: The paper analyzes Divakaruni’s rewriting of the mythical story of Draupadi (from Sanskrit Mahbharata) in her The Palace of Illusions (2008), as well as her projection in the Indian popular rituals. It investigates Draupadi’s iconic status as a fierce feminist standing her ground even against the violence she experiences at the hands of men, among them, her five husbands. My thesis is that the narrative of Draupadi will continue to remain a cult myth, thereby leading to more future artistic manifestations, primarily because her assimilation in the Indian cultural psyche is somewhat incomplete, as she remains an untamed woman with strong political and sociological views, refusing to bow down to the questionable standards of the Indian society, voicing her dissent, rage and protest at her exploitation at the hands of a patriarchal system. Her emancipation in the ancient narrative, and furthermore in the retellings and rituals today, acts both in favor of her as well as goes against her: she is a mythical woman who is denied justice and who is constantly demanding equanimity, thus becoming an icon for the supporters of equal rights for women in the present century, who can draw their inspiration from this ancient myth.

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