''Kanchana Sita'' is a 1961 play by renowned

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

playwright

C. N. Sreekantan Nair C. N. Sreekantan Nair (1928–1976) was an Indian independence activist, a Malayalam writer, short story writer, playwright and screenwriter, best known for his ''Ramayana'' trilogy – ''Kanchana Sita'', ''Saketham'' and ''Lankalakshmi''. He wrot ...

. The author took inspiration for this play from the ''Uttara Kanda'' of

Valmiki Valmiki (; Sanskrit: वाल्मीकि, ) is celebrated as the wikt:harbinger, harbinger-poet in Sanskrit literature. The epic ''Ramayana'', dated variously from the 5th century BCE to first century BCE, is attributed to him, based on ...

's ''

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...

''. The play is the first of Sreekantan Nair's dramatic trilogy based on the ''Ramayana'', the other two are ''Saketham'' and ''Lankalakshmi''. The play is about the tragedy of power, and the sacrifices that adherence to dharma demands, including abandoning a chaste wife. ''Kanchana Sita'' won the

Kendra Sahitya Academy Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

for the year 1962. In 1977,

G. Aravindan Govindan Aravindan (23 January 1935 – 15 March 1991) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, musician, cartoonist, and painter. He was one of the pioneers of parallel cinema in Malayalam. He was known for his unorthodox way of filmma ...

adapted the play into a film with same title. The film went on to become a great critical success and is regarded one of the best Indian films ever made.

References

{{Ramayana Works based on the Ramayana Indian plays adapted into films Indian plays Plays based on myths and legends 1961 plays Malayalam-language plays Sahitya Akademi Award-winning works