Ananthamurthy’s second novel, Bharathipura, was published in the year 1973. “If Samskara is about skepticism and religious orthodoxy, Bharathipura goes about establishing a dialectic between ‘existential socialism’ and traditional hierarchies in rural India” (Bharathipura 38).
The novel follows the story of Jagannath, a Brahmin who has just returned to his village from abroad wanting to build a new social order. Challenging the caste system, he fights for the Untouchables right to enter the sanctum of the temple. Here, Jagannath sees himself as the “enlightened” Modern Indian man who sees himself as the savior of the untouchable people. Ananthamurthy brilliantly handles “intertwining themes, exposing the complexities of the caste system and the myth of social justice in modern India” (Oxford University Press).
The reader finds multiple appearances of Karanth’s novel Chomana Dudi, a book which has been very impactful on Ananthamurthy’s thoughts.
Adiga took his time breaking bits of jilebi and said, “This is all I have to say, Jagannatha. Do you really love the Holeyaru? If you love them unconditionally, you’ll be one with bird, beast and chandala and become an ascetic. There’ll be no question of any conflict whatsoever; no need for a revolution.”
You can read excerpts from the novel for free in this preview published in The Hindu.
A review in the Telegraph reads, ” Ananthamurthy weaves a complex web of myth and reality into the narrative. He uses images and symbols to deconstruct the past, merge it with the present, and then chart a course for the future so as to liberate the Indian way of life from a make-belief world and help it confront the changing realities of the post-Nehruvian era. The novel not only demystifies an old belief, but it also chronicles encounters with new realities on different fronts” (Siddiqui).
The novel was adapted into a television series which saw over a dozen reruns on Doordarshan since 2004.
Purchase Bharathipura translated from the Kannada by Susheela Punitha.
References
“Bharathipura.” http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/86791/9/09_chapter%203.pdf
“Bharathipura.” Oxford University Press, global.oup.com/academic/product/bharathipura-9780198082026?cc=in&lang=en&.
Siddiqui, Shams Afif. “WHEN A MAN TOUCHED THE LIVES OF A CONDEMNED PEOPLE.” The Telegraph, 24 June 2011, http://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/when-a-man-touched-the-lives-of-a-condemned-people/cid/386155.
U. R. Ananthamurthy 