SAMSKARA (2ND EDITION) P

Made into a powerful awardwinning film in 1970 this important Kannada novel of the sixties has received widespread acclaim from both critics and general readers since its first publication in 1965. As a religious novel about a decaying brahmin colony in the south Indian village of Karnataka Samskara serves as an allegory rich in realistic detail a contemporary reworking of ancient Hindu themes and myths and a serious poetic study of a religious man living in a community of priests gone to seed. A death which stands as the central event in the plot brings in its wake a plague many more deaths live questions with only dead answers moral chaos and the rebirth of one man. The volume provides a useful glossary of Hindu myths customs Indian names flora and other terms. Notes and an afterword enhance the selfcontained faithful and yet readable translation.