‘Imaginative, intense and insightful … After Ahalya, Kunti *and *Draupadi, Koral Dasgupta brings us Mandodari, the fourth of the Pancha Kanyas in the Sati series. Narrated in Koral’s signature style, the exchanges of Mandodari and Sita (and their implications for Ravan and Ram) are absolutely fascinating.’ Ashwin Sanghi
**The untold story of the queen of Lanka, torn between two conflicting ideologies – Ram Rajya and Ravan Raj!
** Mandodari, a significant yet oft-forgotten figure of the Ramayan, has long been eclipsed by her infamous husband, Ravan – the epic’s great antagonist. Celebrated for her beauty and piety, Mandodari’s remarkable talents and pivotal role in shaping the mystical kingdom of Lanka have languished in obscurity, until now.
Koral Dasgupta’s enthralling tale of power, love and loyalty grants a rare and intimate glimpse into one of the Ramayan’s most enigmatic female characters. As the queen of Lanka, Mandodari confronts a myriad challenges – from her frustration with Sita’s captivity, to Surpnakha’s deceitful ways, and the daunting task of steering an impossible dream for her husband.
In this fourth book of the bestselling Sati series, Mandodari’s formidable inner mastermind is unleashed, revealing how powerful women must navigate the intricate balance between the calls of the heart and duties of leadership.
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In the Sati series, Koral Dasgupta explores the lives of the Pancha Kanyas from the Hindu epics and reinvents them with a feminist consciousness.
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Praise for the Sati series
‘Ahalya, Draupadi, Kunti, Tara, Mandodari – each of the Pancha Kanyas is fascinating ... Koral Dasgupta’s wonderful retelling adds to this corpus, with a lyrical and poetic quality’ BIBEK DEBROY
‘Magical and thought-provoking’ CHITRA BANERJEE DIVAKARUNI
‘Enigmatic’ NAMITA GOKHALE
‘A must for those wishing to know about our past and the dialectics of gender within it’ PAVAN K. VARMA
KORAL DASGUPTA has published an eclectic range of books, from academic non-fiction to relationship dramas. Her books are discussed in the context of gender studies, art, myth and ecocritical literature. Other than India, Koral’s books can be found in the libraries of Harvard University, Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania, University of Chicago, University of Wales, Duke University, University of North Carolina, Texas A&M University, among others. The books in the Sati series have been nominated for various prestigious awards, with Ahalya most recently being recommended for the 2023 Sahitya Akademi Prize Honour List.
Koral is the founder of www.tellmeyourstory.biz and conducts writing programmes and critical thinking workshops for educational and corporate floors. She has been recognized on the Innovator25 Asia Pacific 2019 list prepared by the Holmes Report and featured in the Women of Wonder (WOW) series in Outlook Business magazine.
Her website is www.koraldasgupta.com.
