Mighty Ghatotkacha (Manoj Publications)

Ghatotkacha is a lovable demon born to Bhima, the Pandava prince and his wife Hidimbi, a rakshasa woman. Ghatotkacha being half rakshasa, has magical powers – he can increase or decrease his size and even become invisible. He can also fly. His rakshasa background fascinated the playwright Bhasa who lived in the first century BC. Bhasa wrote a humourous Sanskrit play MADHYAMA VYAYOGA. In this play, he created a situation where father and son, Bhima and Ghatotkacha confront each other. Indian folklore is rich in stories inspired by our mythology.

An unknown folk writer in Telugu produced the story of the marriage of Shashirekha. The chance encounter between Abhimanyu the valiant son of Arjuna and Ghatotkacha in this story seems to be inspired by the chance meeting of Bhima and Ghatotkacha in Bhasa’s play. When Ghatotkacha learns that his cousin Abhimanyu has set his heart on Shashirekha, the daughter of his uncle, Balarama, who is not in favour of the match, he decides to bring about the union of the young lovers. Resorting to magic, Ghatotkacha accomplishes his mission. The folk writer has used his rich imagination to create a hilarious story. Such is the popularity of the story, that it was made into a film in Telugu and Tamil under the name, Maya Bazar.