Ever heard of a lyrical retelling of Ramayana from Goddess Sita’s perspective? A Sita, who even while bemoaning her fate as an orphan and a castaway, chose to walk into Mother Earth’s bosom, rather than return to take her rightful place as the Queen of Ayodhya.
Chandrabati Ramayana, a 16th century work by Bengal’s first woman poet Chandrabati is one of the first versions of the epic that retells it from Sita’s point of view.
And now, it is available in Malayalam, as Chandrabati Ramayanam, thanks to writer Geethanjali Krishnan, who learnt Bengali and translated the work directly to Malayalam. In Geethanjali’s own words, it took her almost three years, one to learn the language including the alphabets, and another two to translate.
“By 2024 end, I completed the work. Learning Bengali was not very difficult, as it shares similarities with Hindi and Malayalam. Bengali, Malayalam and Sanskrit have many Pali words,” she said.
In accordance with the erstwhile oral poetic traditions handed down generations and cutting across native tongues, Chandrabati Ramayana captures life through the female gaze, and reflects upon the trials and tribulations rural women were so accustomed to at the time. Chandrabati’s take on Sita is in stark contrast with the widely-popular version.
That this Ramayana hardly contains any reference to the battles waged in the course of Lord Ram’s life makes it unlike Valmiki’s rendition.
I felt it needed to be retold in other languages, says Geethanjali
Inspired by it, Geethanjali took it upon herself to translate Chandrabati’s work into Malayalam. While many others have translated Bengali works to Malayalam, it’s the first direct translation of Chandrabati Ramayana to Malayalam.
“Being the first female Ramayanam, I felt it needed to be retold in other languages. It’s one of the few such tales told from Sita’s perspective. In many such tales, she is Ravana’s daughter,” she said.
Geethanjali’s translation has a foreword by translator Sunil Naliyath as well as elaborate notes by academic and writer, late Nabaneeta Deb Sen, and independent Bangla filmaker N Rashed Chowdhury.
Poet K Jayakumar released the book in the state capital last week.
Chandrabati Ramayanam, provides an altogether new perspective on Sita. Here though Sita bemoans her fate as an orphan and a castaway, not once does she break free from the mould of an ideal daughter/wife/sister/mother that has long been prescribed for any woman born into a patriarchal society, save for her final declaration to willingly undergo Agneepareeksha.
Even her rebuke of Rama's lack of faith in her chastity is mild, rather preferring to resign herself to a cruel fate. Such abandonment to destiny's capricious ways finds an ironic echo in the poet herself who signs off tearfully:
This is no one's fault.
Life is both Joy and Sorrow .
God Alone Knows
It is He Alone who decides.
Daughter of a poet, Chandrabati chose to live a life of seclusion in a Shiva temple after being rejected by her suitor on the eve of her wedding. Her fiancé apparently felt humiliated after she had mocked him in public during a creative discourse. with a bruised ego he left her for another woman, with just a day to go for their marriage. Just like her protagonist, she hardly raised a protest and retreated into an almost hermit-like existence. She reportedly refused to return to her suitor when he later tried to woo her back. It was in the course of this self-imposed exile that she pursued her poetic inclinations.
