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Bhimayana: Experiences of Untouchablity

Brief Details: Title Art & Narrative




Bhimayana is a graphic novel based on the life of B.R Ambedkar, published in 2011. 

The novel subverts or presents an alternative to the epic of heroism. Its very title signifies political importance in parallel with Ramayana. As for the storyline, the first wife of king Dashrath in Ramayana, Kaushala Rani, is replaced by Ambedkar's mother. The replacement of Ram's image (a central figure of Hinduism who is revered as perfect) by that of Ambedkar in the popular culture is a powerful subaltern. It essentially flips the Hindu social order on its head as now an untouchable man (as per the Hindu varna system) becomes the ideal. 

Moreover, it breaks the Aristotelian ideas of a hero. Ambedkar does not come from a royal family and posses no tragic flaw. His heroic acts include going against the rigid caste system, fighting for caste equality, and burning the Manu Smriti. 


In terms of the art used in Bhimayana, it breaks the Western comic traditions by globalizing a local art form, Pradhan Gond art and Digna patterns. Gond art uses symbols and metaphors. There are details and layers in every image that add graphic weight to the novel. Unlike the boxes and gutter spaces traditionally used in graphic novels, Bhimayana uses Digna patterns for the story as the free-flowing nature of Gond art is transcribed into sequential form. 

The Gond drawings relate to stories using vibrant imagery but use text boxes for narratives. The images of animals, like birds, snakes, and horses, etc are most commonly used in Bhimayana peppered with symbolism. Dialogue boxes appear in the shape of birds for regular conversations and scorpion tales for spiteful speech; mics become water sprinklers, the train becomes a snake, and when the young Ambedkar is denied water, the hand pump takes the form of a woman. Additionally, pointing fingers are used for targeting and isolating the victims. 

One of the chief rules of the Gond art form is the use of colours. Colours are used in Bhimayana to gain visual literacy. Completely black and white sections are used for relating to atrocities of segregation based on caste. It helps achieve the intent of the graphic novel.  

Bhimayana follows a double narrative that blends biography with letters and newspaper cuttings. These two interlocking strands join Ambedkar's biography with a string of thumbnails about present-day caste prejudices that are violently pervasive in villages, though invisible in the urban areas. 



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