Palace of Illusions - Review

Palace of Illusions – Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Re-telling of the timeless tale ‘Mahabharat’, the story of Draupadi which is often not heard by most people. Guess who is the narrator? Draupadi, Daughter of Drupad, Princess of Panchaal, and widely known as wife of five husbands, Panchaali.

Divakaruni gave a powerful voice to Draupadi in this book, with all her joys in little things, her lonely childhood, her struggles and her triumphs, and the un-answered questions, the enduring pain and the revenge she seeks for what was done to her. Through all the complex emotions and doubts in her heart, Draupadi keeps you engaged with this story in her Palace of Illusions.

The story starts on a lazy winter afternoon, with her nurse, Dhai Ma telling about her fiery birth. Apparently, King Drupad was praying only for a son, but he was gifted beyond what he asked for. As her brother, Dristadyumna stepped out of fire, after few minutes of cheering and celebrations, there comes the Girl Who Wasn’t Invited. She amuses herself by making fancy names for herself such as Off-spring of Vengeance, the Unexpected One. She was as dark as her brother was fair, as hasty as he was calm. And the gods said, “She will change the course of history.” Thus, the first steps to the epic battle Kurukshetra were laid.

This book centrally focuses on women which are not often discussed or who weren’t given much part in the tales of our history. For instance, there was Kunti who was widowed and struggles all through her life to see her sons become Kings and that they get what they deserve. There was Gandhari, who was blindfolded for rest of her life as she was devoted to her sightless husband, thus abandoning her power as queen and mother. And then, there was Panchaali, King Drupad’s beautiful daughter. By her headstrong nature, she brings about the destruction of the Third Age of Man. However, these women were seldom portrayed as important characters in our history and often misunderstood by most of the people.

Divakaruni brings about the roles which these women played in changing the course of our history and the importance which they deserved. Her writing style is very grippy, and she doesn’t go astray from the actual story of Mahabharat.

Read the tale of Draupadi, her lonely childhood, love for her beloved brother, complicated friendship with the enchanting Krishna, her unfortunate marriage with five husbands, her secret affection on Karna – the tragic hero, her failure as a mother, and be welcomed into her entrancing

Palace of Illusions.