The Palace of Illusions: 

By Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni.

The palace of Illusions is the narration of Mahabharata by Panchhali also known as Draupadi.

The epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata , have some strong female characters. But as most of these  tales were often written by men, these protagonists have remained unheard and unnoticed. Palace Of Illusions narrates this story from a female perspective and that is what makes it different.

The book starts out at Draupadi ‘s childhood and takes the readers through her adolescent years, to her day of swayamvar. Further it shows her life as a wife of five Pandavas , her role in the great war of Kurukshetra. And lastly narrates about  her passage into the other world.

The palace of Illusions views Draupadi as a human possessing admirable qualities like integrity, practicality and inner strength.

It also makes the reader wonder at the fairness of the societal rules that force her to hide her love for Karna and accept the role of the wife of five Pandavas. It describes the enigmatic relationship between Draupadi and Krishna beautifully.

The author tells us about how the dark-skinned beautiful princess had gone through a lot to fulfill her duties and obligations towards her kingdom and husbands. 

But was she truly in love with her husbands? Who was the mysterious man she was secretly affectionate towards? Her terms with Kunti and Gandhari, her very well-bonded relation with her ‘Sakha’; the enigmatic Krishna. A never heard before character, her caretaker (Dai Ma), are described in such a way that forces the readers to finish the book in a single sitting.

This is a wonderfully written book that doesn’t leave its pace and keeps the reader on toes to turn the page. It is indeed a different version of the epic which seems quite fascinating due to the  newness of  its writing manner. 

The author has done a wonderful job of sticking to the script of the original epic. She rewrites the story so masterfully, changing nothing but Draupadi’s feelings. And this certainly makes the book a must read. 

©️Sheetal Pradhan Deshpande