Salabhanjika

The novel Salabhanjika is the story of the dark period of Indian history revived from architectural remains. Salabhanjika, the cave architecture of Jaya Vijaya cave of Kumarigiri hill comes to life at dead of the night and depicts the rolling down events of the past to three visitors who had reached the hilltop with intention to get some herbal remedy for leprosy cure. They had been invited to witness 12 episodes in full moon midnights the event of two thousand years ago due to some spiritual blessing. On the background of the story, there is a defeated kingdom that had risen to the climax by the leadership of a saintly Emperor. He is also a saint in the battlefield; political situation forces him to marry for second time for sake of his kingdom. He was unique in giving up the throne next day he fulfilled his target at a young age of 38 and abandoned his thrown in quest of truth of life. The story is quite mystic made by the auspicious nature of Salabhanjika and the events rolling down from midnight to close at the rise of the Morning Star. The grace of the Queens of Kalinga and the triumph of the emperor is heralded by the romantic damsel touches the emotions. The emperor was an expert in stagecraft. In fact, Salabhanjika is the English version of the popular Odia novel Nisardha Salabhanjika, with some additional elements.