Redgrab Books
Joined - September 2024
Logline
Sri Lanka in the 5 century AD is a dark world of wrath and revenge; and of grab-the crown-if-you-can, with some rulers reigning for as little as twenty-seven days. But Dhatusena has been firmly in the saddle for nearly two decades, ruling the Tri-Sinhala from Anuradhapura with an iron hand. Then he blunders into having his sister Varuni, mother-in-law to his daughter Sanghaa, burnt alive at the stake for inflicting grievous injury to the princess while pregnant. Migara, his nephew and son-in-law, vows an equally diabolical revenge. He uses Kashyapa, the low-born son of Dhatusena, smarting at being passed over in the line of succession, as his proxy. Migara has bullied Kashyapa since they were small boys; and now he puts him on the throne as his puppet. Fearing for his life, the younger son of Dhatusena's, crown-prince Moggallana, escapes to India to seek military assistance from the Pallava king. He has taken a solemn vow to return and avenge his father's murder. Kashyapa hates Migara's bullying ways, besides being mortally afraid of Moggallana returning with overwhelming force. He is almost losing his mind from a deadly amalgam of resentment, remorse and fear. Will Kashyapa ever get out of the shadows of Migara? Will Moggallana return to have a face-off with Kashyapa? Even if he can persuade the Pallavas to give him an army, how will he get into the impregnable rock bastion of Sigiriya ? The ruins of Kashyapa's palace and surviving Apsara frescoes on the Sigiriya Rock and of the gardens and fortifications around it are now a UNESCO World Heritage site. Priyadarshi Thakur Khayal, the author of “Padmini of Malwa – The Autobiography of Rani Ruupmati', exhibits once again his penchant for the first person singular as he makes the Rock speak of Sinhala antiquity, and then gets his cast of characters to appear by turns to take the narrative forward. Each one of them has his own perspectives and secret thoughts to share, lending an unusual flavour to the novel.
Short Synopsis
Sri Lanka in the 5 century AD is a dark world of wrath and revenge; and of grab-the crown-if-you-can, with some rulers reigning for as little as twenty-seven days. But Dhatusena has been firmly in the saddle for nearly two decades, ruling the Tri-Sinhala from Anuradhapura with an iron hand. Then he blunders into having his sister Varuni, mother-in-law to his daughter Sanghaa, burnt alive at the stake for inflicting grievous injury to the princess while pregnant. Migara, his nephew and son-in-law, vows an equally diabolical revenge. He uses Kashyapa, the low-born son of Dhatusena, smarting at being passed over in the line of succession, as his proxy. Migara has bullied Kashyapa since they were small boys; and now he puts him on the throne as his puppet. Fearing for his life, the younger son of Dhatusena's, crown-prince Moggallana, escapes to India to seek military assistance from the Pallava king. He has taken a solemn vow to return and avenge his father's murder. Kashyapa hates Migara's bullying ways, besides being mortally afraid of Moggallana returning with overwhelming force. He is almost losing his mind from a deadly amalgam of resentment, remorse and fear. Will Kashyapa ever get out of the shadows of Migara? Will Moggallana return to have a face-off with Kashyapa? Even if he can persuade the Pallavas to give him an army, how will he get into the impregnable rock bastion of Sigiriya ? The ruins of Kashyapa's palace and surviving Apsara frescoes on the Sigiriya Rock and of the gardens and fortifications around it are now a UNESCO World Heritage site. Priyadarshi Thakur Khayal, the author of “Padmini of Malwa – The Autobiography of Rani Ruupmati', exhibits once again his penchant for the first person singular as he makes the Rock speak of Sinhala antiquity, and then gets his cast of characters to appear by turns to take the narrative forward. Each one of them has his own perspectives and secret thoughts to share, lending an unusual flavour to the novel.
Author Bio
Born at Motihari, Khayal originally belongs to Singhwara, a small town in Darbhanga district of north Bihar. He now lives in Gurugram, Haryana (India) Khayal studied history at Patna University and Delhi University in the 1960s, and taught history at Bhagat Singh College of the University of Delhi for three years before getting into the Indian Administrative Service in 1970; he retired as Secretary to Government of India in 2006, and then worked as the Director General of the International Centre for Promotion of Enterprises at Ljubljana, Slovenia until 2008. 'The Sigiriya Paw' is Khayal's second novel after 'Padmini of Malwa – The Autobiography of Rani Ruupmati' being published by Speaking Tiger Books, Delhi.
Comments