Girish Karnad’s play Tale-Danda focusing on Caste Discrimination

This paper explores the outstanding achievement of Girish Karnad, a dramatist engaged in re-inventing theatre tradition over the years. Tale-Danda explores the evils of caste system which leads to the disintegration of Hindu Society. It retells an episode of the life of the twelfth century Lingayat Saint and founder of the movement Basavanna. Eight hundred years ago, in the city of Kalyan, a man called Basavanna assembled a congregation of poets, mystics, social revolutionaries and philosophers who opposed idolatry and caste system. But events took a violent turn when they acted on their beliefs and a Brahmin girl married a low-caste boy. The movement ended in bloodshed. The religious fanaticism and the caste system brought horrible consequences. Though it was historic in character, the play, in fact, had discussed the contemporary issue like caste consciousness that is still prevalent in society.