Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's novel Anandamath was staged beautifully at Shaheed Bhavan on Monday. The novel was adopted as a play by director Alok Chatterjee.
The play Anandmath was staged to mark tge third day of Janyodha Natya Samaroh.
Set in the background of the Sannyasi Rebellion in the late 18th century, it is considered one of the most important novels in the history of Bengali and Indian literature. Its importance is heightened by the fact that it became synonymous with the struggle for Indian independence from the British Empire. The novel was banned by the British.
The plot reveals the various dimensions of life in the backdrop of the Sannyasi Rebellion—such as the plight of the people wrecked by lack of food and hunger that drove them to the brink of cannibalism, the militant rebels, and women’s participation alongside their husbands
In pre-independent India, Satyananda saves Kalyani and her daughter from a few bandits and promises to reunite her with her husband Mahendra, who is captured by the British army.
The rebellion was fought by the sannyasi’s or monks and the common multitudes who took up arms against the tyranny of the British colonisers and their excesses, especially taxes in such a time of privation.
The performamce mesmerised the audinece, especially the song Vande Matram.