Raja (play)

Raja (Bengali: রাজা), also known as The King of the Dark Chamber in English translation, is a play by Rabindranath Tagore written in 1910.[1][2] This play is marked as a symbolic play as well as a ‘mystic play’.[2] The story is loosely borrowed from the Buddhist story of King Kush from Mahāvastu.[1] A short stage version of Raja was published under the title of Arupratan in 1920.[1]

Sen described Raja as ‘the first really symbolic drama by Tagore.’[1] The theme of the play is ‘the secret dealing of God with the human heart.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Sen, Sukumar (1979) [1960]. History of Bengali Literature (3rd ed.). New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi. pp. 279–80. ISBN 81-7201-107-5. 
  2. ^ a b c Ghosh, Sisirkumar (1990). Rabindranath Tagore. Makers of Indian Literature (1st ed.). New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi. p. 66. ISBN 81-260-1994-8.