Futuristic Amalgamation of the Past and Present in Literature -Draupadi as Historian: A Paradigm Shift

In India, the epics the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, are seen as both history and Kavya. In both the epics subversive readings of the major events are part and parcel of the main text. The dominant and rocentric world of the epics is constantly demystified and re-presented by many women characters of the epics. In this sense both the epics can be read from multiple points of view owing to the multiple perspectives that the characters have in the works. The character of Draupadi in the Mahabharata is continually fascinating because she consciously undermined the discourse of patriarchy. Many literary writers have taken recourse to Draupadi for a feminist reading of the epic. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is one among them. She empowers her Draupadi in her „The Palace of Illusions‟ to such an extent that she will topsy-turvy the and rocentric world and provide us with fresh visions and assessments. Draupadi, in the novel, questions the veracity of one history and promulgates the view that what one should look for is many histories and so, many perspectives. My Paper will study Draupadi as historian, in Divakaruni‟s novel The Palace of Illusions, who will put things in the right perspective. The paper will show that her-story is the real history.