'Victory of Meghanada',
Painting by Raja Ravi Varma.

Indrajit (Sanskrit: इन्द्रजित् Indrajit, Burmese: Indazita, Lao: Inthachi, Yuan: Indhajik, Tamil: Intiracittu, Thai: Inthorochit, Malay: Inderajati) or 'Meghanaad meaning Thunderous''' (Sanskrit: मेघनाद), a warrior mentioned in the Indian epic Ramayana, was the son of the Lankan king Ravana. The word 'Indrajit' literally means the 'conqueror of Indra (the Hindu king of gods)'. He also known as Meghnad or Meghanad.

Indrajit played an active role in the great war between Rama and Ravana. He was said to be invincible in battle because of a Yajna he used to perform before every battle. He twice defeated Lakshmana and even Rama once, but on the third occasion Lakshmana disrupted the Yajna with the help of Vibhishana and fought with him for three days and three nights and finally killed him.^[1]

Biography[link]

Wayang figure of Indrajit.

Indrajit was born to Ravana and his wife Mandodari, the daughter of Mayasura. He was named "Meghanada" because his birth cry sounded like thunder. He defeated Indra, the king of the Devas, after which he came to be known as 'Indrajit' ("the conqueror of Indra").

At a very young age, Meghnada became the possessor of several supreme celestial weapons, including Brahmastra, Pashupatastra, and Vaishnavastra, under the guidance of Shukra, the guru of the daityas (demons). He was married to Sulochana, the daughter of the King of the Serpents Shesha Naga.

Brahma's boon[link]

During the Devasura Sangram (the battle between the devas and the asuras). He then turned the tables on Indra, tying him up and mounting him onto his celestial chariot.

At this juncture, Brahma intervened and asked him to free Indra. Meghnada obliged, and was granted a chance to ask for a boon from Brahma. Meghanada asked for immortality, but Brahma remarked that absolute immortality is against the law of the nature. Instead, he was then granted another boon: he would never be won over in any battle, until his Yagna (fire-worship) of his native goddess Nikumbala was disturbed and destroyed. On the completion of the Yagna, a supreme celestial chariot would appear, boarding which, Indrajit would become invincible in any battle. But Brahma also cautioned him that whosoever would destroy this yagna would also kill him. It was Brahma who gave him the name Indrajit ("the conqueror of Indra").

Battle against Rama and Lakshmana[link]

Indrajit joined the battle when all his brothers had been killed by Rama and his army. His father, Ravana, had been humiliated in the battle by Rama, and his paternal uncle Kumbhakarna had been killed by Rama. Indrajit fought with Rama's army for three days.

First day[link]

Rama and Lakshmana bound by Indrajit's Nagapasha.

On the first day of his battle with Rama's army, Indrajit was swift with his weapons. He swiftly wiped out the Armies of the Sugriva, calling on the Lord Rama and Lakshmana to come out of their hiding, so he could avenge the deaths of his paternal uncle and his brothers. When Rama and Lakshmana appeared before him, he fought fiercely, and arrested both the brothers using his most nefarious weapon Nagapash (a trap made of million snakes). Both the brothers fell on the ground breathless. They were rescued by the Garuda on behest of Hanuman. Garuda was the enemy of the serpents and also the flying vehicle of Narayana.

Second day[link]

When Indrajit learned that both the Brothers Rama and Lakhsmana were still alive and were rescued by Garuda, he was fiery and vowed to kill at least one of the brothers that day. When the battle started, he used all his force to cast a havoc on the armies of Sugriva. At this Lakshmana appeared before him, and fought a fierce battle with him. When Indrajit realised that Lakshmana could not be won over, he started using his supreme magical powers, darting across the clouds and skies like a bolt of lightning. He combined his skills of sorcery and deceptive warfare, repeatedly vanishing and reappearing behind Lakshmana's back to catch him off-guard, when used his fiercest and deadliest weapon, Shakti. On being impaled in the back by the weapon, Lakshmana fell unconscious, poised to die precisely at the following sunrise. His life was saved by Lord Hanuman, who kidnapped the Rajvaidya(royal physician) Sushena from the Lankan fortress, and brought the whole mountain of Dronagiri from the Himalayas to Lanka overnight to find the remedy(the magical herb - Sanjivani) for the weapon used by Indrajit. Sushena first was hesitant to use the herb on an enemy, which was only common as he was abducted from Lanka and was in a bad mood, but when Rama reminded him of the ancient saying that physicians then used, "A physician has no friends or enemies", Sushena bowed beneath the saying and cured Lakshmana, who, aroused and ready, challenged Indrajit once more.

Third day[link]

Lakshamana fights Indrajit

Killing of Indrajit Painting by Balasaheb Pant Pratinidhi

When Indrajit came to know that Lakhsmana had survived again, he went to his native deity's secret temple to perform the yagna that would make him invincible. Vibhishana, Indrajit's paternal uncle who left Ravana to join Rama in the name of truth and justice, learned of his nephew Indrajit's routine through his spies and alerted Lord Rama. Lakshmana and Vibhisana took the opportunity to face Indrajit in the "Yagnaagaar", where Indrajit would not touch any weapons. Indrajit fought Lakshmana with the utensils of the yagna and even managed to escape from there.

As the Valmiki Ramayana quotes, upon his Yagna being destroyed by the armies of Lakshmana, Indrajit became enraged and stormed out of the Temple Cave. Seeing his uncle Vibhishana (who had abandoned Ravana and joined Rama) at Lakshmana's side multiplied Indrajit's fury manifold. He vowed to kill his uncle Vibhisana along with Lakshmana once and for all, letting loose the Yama-astra which he had been conserving for punishing Vibhishana's perceived treason. At this juncture, Lakshmana protected Vibhsana, countering the Yama-astra owing to an earlier warning by Kubera. Fierce battle ensued, and unable to injure Lakshmana by normal means, Indrajit resorted to the use of the three Supreme Weapons (Brahmastra, Pashupatastra, and Vaishnavastra) on Lakshmana. To Indrajit's great shock and dismay, each of the three weapons refused to even touch Lakshmana, with the Vaishnavastra circumambulating Lakshmana before disappearing. Realization dawned on Indrajit that Lakshmana was no ordinary human as he and his father had perceived. Indrajit vanished briefly from the battlefield, returning to Ravana at the royal palace, and reported the developments, proposing that his father make peace with Rama and protect the demon race from further decimation. Ravana, blinded with pride, was unrelenting and annoyed, and even suggested that Indrajit was a coward having fled the battlefield. This accusation provoked Indrajit who briefly lost his temper, striking fear even at the mighty Ravana's heart before apologising and clarifying to his father that his primary duty as a son was to serve his father's best interests, and that even in the face of death, he'd never abandon Ravana. Preparing to go back on the battle and knowing that he indeed faced death at the hands of a heavenly incarnation, Indrajit bade his last goodbyes to his parents and his wife. He returned to the battlefield and fiercely fought Lakshmana with all his skill at both warfare, and sorcery. Lakshmana was unstoppable, and slew Indrajit by beheading him with the Aindrastra (verses 71 and 72 chapter 90 Yudhkanda Valmiki Ramayana). Upon his death his wife Sulochana became Sati on his funeral pyre.^[2]

The verse invoked by Lakshmana to slay Indrajit is considered by the devout as one of the moola mantras of the Ramayana:

dharmaatmaa satyasandhashcha raamo daasharathiryadi |

pauruShe chaapratidvandvastadenaM jahi raavaNim || 90-6-71

“[O! my dear arrow!] If Rama, the son of Dasaratha, is ever firm on the staying the path of Dharma and Satya, and is second to none in his prowess, go forth and destroy this Indrajit.”

See also[link]

• Valmiki
• Ramayan
• Sulochana
• Meghnad Bodh Kavya

References[link]

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Ramayana

External links[link]

• Intarachit in the Thai Ramakian (Ramayana)

Badal Sarkar
Born	Sudhindra Sircar [1] (1925-07-15) July 15, 1925 (age 86) Kolkata
Died	May 13, 2011(2011-05-13) Kolkata
Residence	Manicktala, Kolkata
Occupation	playwright, theatre director
Years active	1945–2011
Notable work(s)	Ebong Indrajit (And Indrajit) (1963) Pagla Ghoda (Mad Horse) (1967)
Awards	1966 Sangeet Natak Akademi Award 1972 Padma Shri 1997 Ratna Sadsya

Badal Sarkar (15 July 1925 – 13 May 2011), also known as Badal Sircar, was an influential Indian dramatist and theatre director, most known for his anti-establishment plays during the Naxalite movement in the 1970s and taking theatre out of the proscenium and into public arena, when he founded his own theatre company, Shatabdi in 1976. He wrote more than fifty plays of which Ebong Indrajit, Basi Khabar, and Saari Raat are well known literary pieces, a pioneering figure in street theatre as well as in experimental and contemporary Bengali theatre with his egalitarian "Third Theatre", he prolifically wrote scripts for his Aanganmanch (courtyard stage) performances, and remains one of the most translated Indian playwrights.^[2][3] Though his early comedies were popular, it was his angst-ridden Ebong Indrajit (And Indrajit) that became a landmark play in Indian theatre.^[4] Today, his rise as a prominent playwright in 1960s is seen as the coming of age of Modern Indian playwriting in Bengali, just as Vijay Tendulkar did it in Marathi, Mohan Rakesh in Hindi, and Girish Karnad in Kannada.^[5]

He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1972, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1968 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship- Ratna Sadsya, the highest honour in the performing arts by Govt. of India, in 1997.^[6]

Early life and education[link]

Badal Sarkar, whose real name was 'Sudhindra Sarkar', was born in Calcutta, India. After transferring from the Scottish Church College, where his father was a history professor,^[7] he studied civil engineering at the Bengal Engineering College, Shibpur, then affiliated with the University of Calcutta.^[8] In 1992, he finished his Master of Arts degree in comparative literature from the Jadavpur University in Calcutta.

Career[link]

While working as a town planner in India, England and Nigeria, he entered theatre as an actor, moved to direction, but soon started writing plays, starting with comedies. He stayed for two years in London, here he was influenced by people like Joan Littlewood, Anthony Serchio, Schechner and Polish theatre director Jerzy Grotowski, this was make his body of future work distinct from other Bengali playwrights like Sombhu Mitra and Utpal Dutt.^[9] Amongst these influence of Richard Schechner, founder of the Performance Group, an experimental theater troupe, became more pronounced with establishment of his "Third Theatre", nearly two decades later.^[10] He started his acting career in 1951, when acted in his own play, Bara Trishna, performed by Chakra, a theatre group.

Eventually still employed in Nigeria, he wrote his landmark play Ebong Indrajit (And Indrajit) in 1963, which was first published and performed in 1965 and catapulted him into instant fame, as it captured "the loneliness of post-Independence urban youth with dismaying accuracy". He followed them with plays like Baaki Itihaash (Remaining History) (1965), Pralap (Delirium) (1966), Tringsha Shatabdi (Thirtieth Century) (1966), Pagla Ghoda (Mad Horse) (1967), Shesh Naai (There's No End) (1969), all performed by Sombhu Mitra's Bohurupee group.^[1][2]

In 1967, he formed the "Shatabdi" theatre group, and the first production he directed was Ebang Indrajit in 1967, a play about three people - Amal, Bimal, Kamal and a loner Indrajit. In the next five years of its existence the troupe performed several of his plays and had a profound impact on contemporary theatre, especially after 1969 when it started performing plays both indoors and outside amidst people, and evolved the angan manch (courtyard stage) and inspired by the direct communication techniques of Jatra rural theatre form, to eventually become his "Third Theatre", a protest against prevalent commercial theatre establishment. Often performed in "found" spaces rather than rented theatre halls, without elaborate lighting, costumes or make-up, where audience was no longer a passive, rather became participatory, it added a new realism to contemporary dramaturgy, retaining thematic sophistication of social committed theater all the while, and thus started a new wave of experimental theatre in Indian theatre. In 1976, his group "Satabdi", started performing at Surendranath Park (then Curzon Park) Kolkata on weekends, these open-air and free performances lead to his troupe travelling to nearby villages on other weekends, where it employed minimal props and improvised dialogues to involve audience further into the performance.

Though he continued to hold his job till 1975, as a playwright he rose to prominence in the 1970s and was one of the leading figures in the revival of street theater in Bengal. He revolutionized Bengali theatre with his wrath-ridden, anti-establishment plays during the Naxalite movement.^{[11][12][13][14]}

His plays reflected the atrocities that prevailed in the society, the decayed hierarchical system and were socially enlightening. He is a proponent of the "Third theatre" movement that stood ideologically against the state. Third theatre involved street plays, with actors being attired no differently than the audience. Also the formal bindings of the proscenium theatre was given up. Sarkar's "Bhoma" is an example of a third theatre play, set as always, in an urban background. Starting with Sagina Mahato, which marked his advent into arena stage, his subsequent plays, Michhil (Juloos), Bhoma, Basi Khobor, Spartacus based on Howard Fast's historical novel by the same name, were performed in parks, street corners and remote villages with the audience sitting all around.^[11][15][16]

Sircar directed his last play in 2003, and after that his movements were restricted after a road accident, but even many years in 2011, he continued performing at play readings and writing new works like adapting, William Shakespeare's Macbeth, two stories by Graham Greene and a novel, History of Love.^[17]

Death[link]

Sarkar was diagnosed with colon cancer in April 2011. He died on 13 May at Kolkata at the age of 85.

Awards and recognition[link]

Sarkar was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 1972, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1968 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship- Ratna Sadsya, the highest honour in the performing arts by Govt. of India, in 1997, given by Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama.

The "Tendulkar Mahotsav" held at the National Film Archive of India (NFAI), Pune in October 2005, organised by director Amol Palekar to honour playwright Vijay Tendular, was inaugurated with the release of a DVD and a book on the life of Badal Sircar.^[18]

In July 2009, to mark his 85th birthday, a five-day long festival titled Badal Utsava as tribute to him was organized by several noted theatre directors.^[19] He was offered the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 2010, which he declined, stating that he is already a Sahitya Akademi Fellow, which is the biggest recognition for a writer.^[20]

In media[link]

Sarkar is the subject of two documentaries, one directed by filmmaker and critic, Amshan Kumar,^[21] and another A Face in the Procession by Sudeb Sinha, which was shot over two years.

Legacy[link]

Badal Sircar influenced a number of film directors, theater directors as well as writers of his time. Film director Mira Nair in an interview mentioned, "For me, Kolkata was a formative city while growing up.... I learned to play cricket in Kolkata, but more than anything, I learned to read Badal Sircar and watch plays written by him for street theatre. " ^[22] To Kannada director and playwright, Girish Karnad, Sircar’s play Ebong Indrajit taught him fluidity between scenes, while as per theare director-playwright Satyadev Dubey, "In every play I’ve written and in every situation created, Indrajit dominates." To Actor-director Amol Palekar, "Badalda opened up new ways of expression."^[23]

List of plays[link]

• Ebang Indrajit (And Indrajit) (1963)
• Basi Khabar
• Baaki Itihaash (Remaining History) (1965)
• Pralap (Delirium) (1966)
• Tringsha Shatabdi (Thirtieth Century) (1966)
• Pagla Ghoda (Mad Horse) (1967)
• Shesh Naai (There's No End) (1969)
• Spartacus
• Prastava
• Juloos (Procession)
• Bhoma
• Solution X
• Baropishima
• Saari Raat
• Badi buaji
• Kavi Kahini
• Manushe Manushe
• Hottomalar oparey
• Bollovpurer rupkatha
• Sukhapathya bharoter itihash (Indian History Made Easy)

Works[link]

• The Third Theatre. Pub. Sircar, 1978
• The changing language of Theatre (Azad memorial lectures). Pub. Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), 1982.

Plays in translation[link]

• Evam Indrajit: Three-act Play. tr. by Girish Karnad. Oxford University Press. 1975. ISBN 0-19-560312-5.
• Three plays : Procession, Bhoma, Stale news. tr. by Samik Bandyopadhyay. Seagull. 1983.
• Beyond the Land of Hattamala & Scandal in Fairyland. tr. by Suchanda Sarkar. Seagull Books, 2003 . ISBN 81-7046-091-3.
• Two Plays: Indian History Made Easy, Life of Bagala, tr. by Subhendu Sarkar. OUP, 2009. ISBN 978-0-19-806549-4.

See also[link]

• Theatre in India

References[link]

External links[link]

• Badal Sircar's "Evam Indrajit" as a Play in the Absurdist Tradition
• A docudrama about and involving Badal Sarkar made in 2008
• Documented material on Badal Sircar: Natarang Pratishthan