Behind the fantastical surface of India's ancient stories — a goddess descending from the heavens, a sage cursed to stone, a god drinking the ocean itself — lies something the popular mythological retelling rarely asks: what actually happened? Geetanjali argues that these narratives are not flights of imagination but encoded records of a history far older and stranger than any mythology textbook suggests.
Working through tales that most readers know in their mythological form, she reads them against the grain to recover the historical events they may have been preserving. The descent of Ganga, the curse of Ahalya, the drinking of the ocean — each becomes a puzzle that yields a different picture when examined carefully. Geetanjali brings to this project the eye of both an author and a visual artist, and her readings are as attentive to symbol and image as they are to text.
Readers drawn to the question of what the ancient Indian texts were actually recording — and why their authors chose the language of myth to record it — will find this a stimulating and unconventional guide.
Most stories are mere flights of fantasy that take the reader to a different realm for the purpose of entertainment. But those found in the ancient Indian texts are much more than that. While they are also fantastical and magical on the surface, when read and understood carefully they tell of a history that is glorious beyond imagination. Like the descent of Ganga, like the curse of Ahalya, like the drinking of the Ocean... This book dives deep into many such tales, popular presently in their mythological form, and discovers their historical form. Geetanjali is an established author, artist and poet. She has written and illustrated multiple books on religion and mythology. Find her on: Instagram: A.n.k.a.h.i Twitter: @_ankahi Facebook: Geetanjali Ankahi
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