Raja Rao, an eminent Indian English writer can be distinguished from his contemporaries like Mulk Raj Anand and R.K. Narayan due to his narrative techniques and philosophical sensibility. His first novel Kanthapura (1938) is based on Gandhian ideology. This paper portrays the freedom movement of Mahatma Gandhi and prevailing caste system and how the caste system and religion intermingled to bring the Indians on one platform against British rule. Raja Rao has come out with complete mastery of the various aspects of the novel as a form of art. The novel is based on Indian struggle for freedom and is able to recapture the perfect harmony of plot, character, dialogue and narrative on the one hand and fantasy and realism on the other.
Associate Professor, Department of English, S.D.S. College, Kaler, Magadh University, Bodh-Gaya
