Author: Anant Pai
Illustrator/Animator: C M Vitankar/Partap Mulick/Dilip Kadam et al
Publisher: India Book House
Year: 2006
Language: Hindi
Pages: 180
ISBN/UPC (if available): N/A
Description
This set of comic books in Hindi includes 5 titles: Garuda, Lav - Kush, Abhimanyu, Amrit Manthan, and Prithviraj Chauhan. Profusely illustrated in multicolors,these comics render absorbing and delightful reading for both children and adults alike.
1. GARUDA
Garuda is a mythical bird and has been held in great veneration in India from time immemorial. Many Indologists hold that this deity is of Dravidian origin.
Garuda is represented as a large white-necked eagle, but his images in the temples who him with a human trunk. Serpents are the natural food of the eagle. The reason for this enmity is traced in the Adi Parva of the Mahabharata to the jealousy between Kadru and Vinata, the mother of the serpents and Garuda respectively.
Only Vishnu could have these tow born enemies – Garuda, the mighty eagle and Shesha, the great serpent – wait upon him. He uses Shesha as his couch and Garuda as his mount.
2. Lav - Kush (Sons of Rama)
The story of Rama and Sita was first set down by the sage Valmiki in his epic poem Ramayana.
On returning to Ayodhya after fourteen years of exile, Rama banished Sita because of the suspicions of his subjects. In the ashrama of sage Valmiki, she gave birth to her twin sons, Luv and Kush. Based on Uttara-Ramacharita of Bhavabhuti.
3. Abhimanyu
Abhimanyu, like a shooting star, illuminates the horizon of the Mahabharata epic for a few moments and vanishes in trails of glory. Abhimanyu’s father was the great Arjuna. His mother, Subhadra, was the sister of Lord Krishna. In spire of being overshadowed by such powerful personalities, Abhimanyu had no difficulty in finding his rightful place among the greatest of his time.
We know little of Abhimanyu’s childhood except his lineage. His marriage to Uttara remained in the shadow of Arjuna’s overbearing presence. But in the battlefield of Kurukshetra, he came into his own and proved his mettle. His humility as seen in his obedience to Yudhishthira, his idealism in taking up the fatal assignment and his courage in confronting the enemy-all these proclaim a hero greater than any of the Pandavas.
It took seven of the greatest on the Kaurava side to vanquish the young lion that was Abhimanyu. Youth has seldom scaled such heights in any epic known to mankind.
4. Amrit Manthan (The Churning of the Ocean)
The story of how the Devas procured the divine nectar and became immortal after drinking it, is interesting as well as dramatic. It was the ocean of milk which was churned. The great mountain Mandara was the staff used for churning; the serpent Vasuki was the cord. Lord Vishnu assumed the form of a tortoise and served as a pivot for Mandara, as it was whirled around. Our version is derived mainly from the Bhagawat Purana and the Mahabharata.
5. PRITHVIRAJ CHAUHAN
With the death of Harsha, King of Kanauj, about 647 A.D. his great empire in North India Collapsed. It rapidly disintegrated into several petty kingdoms. This political division weakened the unity of the country and led to several violent disputes between the chieftains of these new kingdoms.
Prithviraj Chauhan was a famous king and warrior. He was noted for his valour and chivalry. Despite his defeat and death, his name has been immortalised and he has become the hero of many legends. The story of Prithviraj Chauhan as told in the following pages is based on these legends.