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Influence of Gandhian movements on Kanthapura

Mahatma Gandhi was a great and outstanding personality of the India freedom movement who
spent his whole life in the struggle for the independence of India and he is still inspiring the
people in the country as well as outside of the country through his legacy of greatness, ideal
thoughts and noble life. He has the experience of two world wars and by this he knew the
cruelty and pathetic condition of war. As all the hopes for freedom were shattered, he is the only
hope for freedom. Education, social life, politics has a deep influence of Gandhian ideology
more or less. He influenced the people through his writing in literature and by his weapon of non
cooperation, non violence, non touching the foreign.

The 1930s, the period when the waves of nationalism swept across the length and breadth of
India, is a defining period in India’s struggle for independence. The nation was politically
awakening, with the spirit of revolution and freedom resonating in every village, town, and city. It
is in this backdrop that Raja Rao, one of the pioneers of Indian- English literature wrote his
magnum opus novel, “Kanthapura”, which still stands as a powerful example of the
determination and courage of our freedom fighters. In the period when nationalism was on the
rise in India, Rao created a unique image of Indian novel writing, perfectly blending the
elements of Western novel writing with the vibrant storytelling traditions of India, infusing the
narrative with the essence of Indian villages. The novel is set against the backdrop of the
fictional village of Kanthapura and written in the form of Sthala Puranas- the legendary history of
places in India. What was happening in Kanthapura was happening in thousands of villages all
over the country at that time. This village is a typical Indian village. The people are uneducated
and superstitious. The story unfolds through the eyes of Achakka, an elderly woman in the
village who serves as a narrator, just like how grandparents tell stories and legends of the past
to their children.

Kanthapura is shown as a caste-ridden and the village is divided into four quarters called the
Brahmin quarter, the Potter's quarter, the Weavers quarter and the Sudra quarter. By describing
life in Kanthapura, Raja Rao in fact describes how life is in all Indian villages, in general
Kanthapura is the microcosm of the Indian traditional society but the theme is universal. Hence,
it becomes a microcosm of the Indian society. Mahatma Gandhi’s influence is seen in every
aspect of Kanthapura. Despite never being physically present in the village, his presence is
strongly felt throughout the novel, through his teachings, ideologies, and the impact of his
actions on the villagers’ lives. Gandhi is depicted as a saintly and mythical figure and is seen as
the incarnation of Lord Siva. He is also depicted as Rama, who fights against Ravana, the
British ruler to rescue India from its captivity.

The story of the novel revolves around his ideology, through the main character Moorthy, the
protagonist who belongs to a Brahmin community. He went to town for education at university
and was highly influenced by Gandhian ideals. He returned to village and observed the absence
of nationalism. So he became the gospel of Gandhi in Kanthapura. He sacrificed his all worldly
pleasure for nation and started teaching people of non-violence and social reform. He united
them in the name of Gandhian philosophy and brought changes in every aspect of the village
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and villagers. He discovered a half buried 'linga from the village land and installed in where a
temple was built. He replaced godess Kenchamma with linga. The ceremonies were celebrated
within the temple premises and "Hari-Kathas' was practiced in the village. All of us know that
"Hari- Kathas' are the stories about the God. Moorthy was promoting spinning Khadi (Cotton
clothes) and discarded foreign made clothes and fought against untouchability. He was
excommunicated by his own caste, his own mother was dead due to the shock. Soon he started
to live with an educated widow Rangamma who was a true follower of Gandhi and she took part
in India's freedom movement. Even Ratna also believed in him, all the changes and
developments take place in village through Moorthy in the name of Gandhian ideology. It is
there that national and political consciousness took root among the people, inspired by the
ideals of Mahatma Gandhi.

Gandhian approach in life is based on the principles of truth and non-violence (Ahinsa).
Meanwhile, here it may be observed Gandhi's impact on the freedom movement. Gandhi's
devoted follower Moorthy brings the civil disobedience movements in Kanthapura, it is he who
started spreading nationalism within the village. From the early stages of the novel, Moorthy
becomes a wave of change in Kanthapura. Initially through, bringing Jayaramachar to the
village, who sings Harikatha to the villagers. In the name of harikatha he preached the concept
of Swaraj to the villagers. He equates the three eyes of Lord Shiva to the three aspects of
Swaraj- Self- Purification, Hindu- Muslim Unity, and Khadi. Even though the villagers were
initially intolerant towards these ideals, as the novel progresses, we can see that all those
people completely accepted the idea of Swaraj and fight for it. In Kanthapura, where religion
and culture played a significant role, the traditions were used in a secular and political manner
to disseminate nationalist ideals.

He establishes himself as the leader of Kanthapura, similar to Gandhi's role in leading India. He
sacrificed his whole life to the freedom movement. He manages to establish the Congress Party
in adherence to Gandhian values in Kanthapura. Like Gandhi, he adheres to truth, non-violence,
and civil disobedience, refusing to protest his own incarceration. He actively encourages the
villagers to participate in acts of civil disobedience and protest against British authority. He takes
many steps to instill nationalism among the villagers. He left his foreign clothes and lit them on
fire and started to wear Khadi. He distributes charakhas(the spinning wheels) by going house to
house, spreading gandhian philosophy and encouraging villagers to spin their own yarn,
promoting self-sufficiency and economic independence. In the beginning it is quite problematic
to convince the people. Ultimately they started spinning the Charakas and producing clothes
regularly. They understand that it is essential for political freedom. With their participation the
people of Kanthapura formed a Congress Party with the ideology of Gandhi and participated in
the movements. He goes from house to house without any caste restrictions, sharing the
message of Gandhi and urging the villagers to embrace his principles. He even neglected his
mother's request to get married and lead a common life to put himself more consciously in the
freedom movement. Even though he was rich and belong to brahmin community, he had no
interest in erotic pleasure. He became a leader of the freedom movement of Kanthapura. He
puts nation as his first priority and contributes. Moorthy also fasts like Gandhi and leads the
villagers, when the call for Civil Disobedience Movement swept across the country. According to
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them Moorthy was the leader. They frequently regarded Gandhi as "big mountain" and Moorthy
as "Small Mountain". However he was a young man but he was loved and acclaimed by the
common people.

Following Gandhi’s historic Dandi March and breaking of Salt law, the villagers of Kanthapura
conducted a march to the nearby river Himavathy under the leadership of Moorthy. They also
organized boycott movements in line with the protests taking place at the national level, refused
to pay taxes, and abstained from cooperating with the British authorities. Even children, old
people, and women take part in the Satyagraha movement and are brutally harassed and
beaten up. The coolies at the Skeffington Coffee Estate is a perfect microcosm of the story of
India itself under colonialism. The coolies are exploited in numerous ways: they are lied to,
denied fair wages, beaten, forced to work long hours, forced to spend their money on the
master's toddy, forbidden from political activism, and more. Their labor is what brings the Estate
profit, but they are treated like they are nothing. The villagers also conduct picketing of
Boranna’s toddy booth and conduct strikes against the oppressive owner of Skeffington Coffee
estate, a British man. Inorder to control them, the government sends its police officers to
terrorize the protesters. This leads to the arrest of a number of individuals including Moorthy, but
he gladly accepts the arrest and is imprisoned for three months. That took place because Bade
khan, a police officer was there in the village to take control over freedom activities of villagers.
He was serving British government and was accompanied with other British power beneficials
like Bhatta and Venkamma. Bhatta was very clever and as soon as his first wife died he marries
a young girl of Venkamma and becomes rich all the way suddenly. And was also uniting people
against moorthy and Gandhian followers. Through Moorthy's teachings, the Brahmins realize
that though their lives are obviously much better than those of the coolies, they still suffer under
the colonial economy. This speaks of evil power system which humiliates people who have no
power.

When Moorthy was imprisoned, the women of Kanthapura stepped forward to continue the fight.
Rangamma, a widowed woman in the village takes up the leadership of the movement and
forms a volunteer corps dedicated to ending British rule, known as ‘Sevika Sangha’. She also
gave her house for Congress council's meeting spot to plan the things to reach till peoole. She
motivated other women to indulge themselves in the fight for the right. Rangamma, herself
breaks the shackles of widowhood and casteism by embracing the ideals of Gandhism, and
rallying women to join the struggle for independence. Ratna, another widow from a low-caste
group who initially faced numerous hardships, eventually became a powerful figure of the
movement. When both Rangamma and Moorthy were imprisoned, it was Ratna who bravely
carried the movement forward. The novel truly captures how women of India, influenced by
Gandhism, came to the forefront of the freedom struggle challenging traditional gender roles
and shattering societal norms.

Untouchability is another problem of India. Kanthapura also depicts the same picture. It
presents the problematic condition between brahmin and pariah community. Moorthy was
excommunicated by his own caste because he gave a visit and spend time in pariah land and
pariah people guiding them to follow Gandhian principles. Gandhi himself commented "...I want
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to say something about untouchability. If you want to do some real service, and want to save
your Hindu dharma, you must remove this. If you fail to get rid of this, be sure that Hinduism
itself will be rid of you. That religion cannot be a holy religion in which teaches hatred against
even one man. Let a man be a very great criminal; the least you can do is to reform him and not
to hate him (Gandhi 69)." Moorthy condemned the idea of untouchability and marginalising
people for their caste. He was fighting against it. The novel captivates how people saw and
accepted the ideal of a united India, a nation-state eventually. The Kanthapura, a caste-ridden
village slowly breaks the barriers of caste and villagers unite in their fight against British rule as
the novel progresses, strongly portraying the transformative power of nationalism in bringing
people together. The novel presents a character named Advocate Sankar, who is often referred
to as the “Walking advocate”, truly embodying the simplicity endorsed by Mahatma Gandhi. He
also advocates Hindi as the national language, believing it to be the unifying force for the
country. He speaks to his family in Hindi, while maintaining his affinity towards his mother
tongue Kannada. He is also seen advocating strongly against the use of English words in
conversations, showing a strong dislike for Western symbols in India. He wears Khadi because
he knows very well that by this action the poor people can halt the exploitation which is going on
by western industries. He only goes to those marriage parties where the entire guests wear
Khadi. He even fasts with his family on important days relating to the freedom struggle.
Rachanna, Range Gowda are more or less influenced by Gandhi. During the Satyanarayan puja
they indulge a mass movement. That shows the influence of Gandhi upon the people of
Kanthapura.

Throughout the novel, the word “Mahatma” appears repeatedly, signifying the respect villagers
hold for Gandhi. The villagers also raise slogans like “Mahatma Gandhi Ki Jai” which shows
their unwavering support for Gandhi. Several songs were also sung by the villagers to amplify
their nationalist spirit. This was a very common element in the protests in India, which acted as
a tool to inspire the people, installing spirit to fight against the British.

Conclusion

Through Moorthy, the novel also shows the gravitating influence of Jawaharlal Nehru’s ideas in
Indian Politics, where Moorthy himself becomes attracted to Nehru’s ideas. However, his initial
alignment with Gandhi and his unwavering commitment to the principles of non-violence
throughout the narrative shows Moorthy embodying Mahatma Gandhi's influence. The powerful
presence of the British in the village is represented by the owner of Skeffington Coffee estate
and the police officers like Bade Khan who oppress the voices of dissent of the villagers. This
truly mirrors the oppressive nature of British colonial rule in India. Moorthy, inspired by Gandhi,
becomes the leader of the villagers and conducts various activities like the distribution of
charkha and organizing hunger strikes and Satyagraha. He was hailed by the villagers as the
Small Mountain while referring to Mahatma Gandhi as the “Big Mountain.” Kanthapura itself
reflects the diversity of complexity of India, its social fabric, and the need for unity in the face of
British imperialism. Together, what Raja Rao presents to us is a true microcosm of India, in its
journey towards freedom.
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The fact that, Gandhi appeared again and again to destroy sin and re-establish religion on a firm
footing. Raja Rao presents Moorthy as the avatar of Gandhi. He says: "Moorty is our Gandhi.
He is the saint of the village. Since he conveys the villagers, with the idea of Gandhi, whom the
villagers considered to be an avatar of God. Moorty is a small avatar of Gandhi It also reminds
us one of the well-known shloka of 'The BhagavadGita’ in which Lord Krishna exuciates the
objectives of his incarnation.