A Call for ‘Samskara’ of Unclean Rituals and Traditions in U.R. Ananthamurthy’s Samskara

Abstract

Samskara (1965) by U.R. Ananthamurthy is a story of an orthodox Brahmin agrahara named Durvasapura. When Naranappa, a rebel who broke the caste rules, dies, the village is plunged into a crisis of who should conduct his last rites. The paper will explore the emptiness of ritual purity and the novel’s orthodoxy and casteism. It also illustrates how Praneshacharya’s unsuccessful attempt to find a scriptural solution leads to his own samskara, or transformation. The paper also examines the marginalization of subalterns and women (both the low-caste and the Brahmin), such as Chandri, Bhagirathi, and Lakshmidevamma. It maintains that the novel demands a ‘samskara’ of unclean rituals and traditions in themselves.