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Chandrakanta
Author: Devakinanda Khatri

Publisher: Penguin Books
ISBN: 9780143330417
Pages: 258
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When Chandrakanta, the beautiful princess of Vijaygarh, falls in love with Virendra, the dashing prince of the rival kingdom of Naugarh, their union has to cross several paths with many obstacles. Chandrakanta, Devakinandan Khatri’s magnum opus, traces Virendra’s efforts to free his love, Princess Chandrakanta, from a magical maze.

The lovers have to fight evil ministers who have sinister magicians in tow, enemy kings eager to get into wars, people who can change forms and camouflage themselves to fool intelligent moles, and magic webs everywhere. Then Chandrakanta gets caught in the maze, from which only the debonair prince can rescue her and it remains to be seen whether Virendra can reach her before things get worse or whether their love is destined to be doomed

An extremely captivating read, the romantic fantasy leads to several nail-biting situations for the reader with its superbly etched characters like Krur Singh, the Prime Minister's son, and the Aiyars or secret agents. Mysterious concepts like tilism are also explored. In fact, there are more characters, incredulous trickery, and hypnotic landscapes to spur the imagination of the reader. Chandrakanta is considered to be one of the first works of prose in the modern Hindi language. Despite being a period saga, the book has become a popular classic in India. It has many sequels, the most notable one being a 7 book series titled Chandrakanta Santati.

Manju Gupta translated the novel to English and titled it In The Mysterious Ruins. Chandrakanta has also inspired several television serials.