Kapalkundala (1866) is a novel by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee. Set in Dariapur, Contai, Kapalkundala was Chatterjee’s second novel. Recognized as a pioneering work of Bengali literature with universal romantic themes, Kapalkundala has been adapted several times for film and television, most recently for a popular Indian Bengali soap opera of the same name. On his way home to Saptagram from a pilgrimage to Gangasagar, Nabakumar encounters a Tantric sage in the forest. After exchanging their greetings, the sage captures the young gentleman in order to sacrifice him to the goddess Shamshaan Kali. Rescued by the sage’s foster daughter, the beautiful Kapalkundala, Nabakumar marries her the next day. Despite their happiness, the past refuses to let them live in peace. As the sage plots his revenge, Nabakumar’s first wife, who left him after converting to Islam, has returned seeking forgiveness. As doubt begins to penetrate their bond, Nabakumar and Kapalkundala lose sight of the only thing that matters: each other. Tragic and timeless, Kapalkundala is a brilliant romance from a legendary figure in Bengali literature.
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Bankim Chandra Chatterjee (1838-1894) was an Indian novelist, poet, and journalist. Born into a Bengali Brahmin family, he was highly educated from a young age, graduating from Presidency College, Kolkata with an Arts degree in 1858. He later became one of the first graduates of the University of Calcutta before obtaining a Law degree in 1869. Throughout his academic career, he published numerous poems and stories in weekly newspapers and other publications. His first novel, Rajmohan’s Wife (1864), is his only work in English. Between 1863 and 1891, he worked for the government of Jessore, eventually reaching the positions of Deputy Magistrate and Deputy Collector. Anandamath (1828), a novel based on the Sannyasi Rebellion against British forces, served as powerful inspiration for the emerging Indian nationalist movement. Chatterjee is also known as the author of Vande Mataram, a Bengali and Sanskrit poem set to music by Bengali polymath and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore.
