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Book summary - Siege of Mithila

Title - Siege of Mithila
Author - Ashok K Banker
Genre - Fiction, Mythological 
Status - Re-read



Few years ago, browsing through the aisles in MJ Library, Ahmedabad, I spotted a book titled 'Armies of Hanuman'. Immediately I picked up the book and thus got introduced to the works of Mr Banker. AOH was the 4th book in Ramayan series penned down by him. Today's topic is the second book of this series - Siege of Mithila.

Obviously, the story is well known to most Indians. The retelling however is tremendously different. The foreword itself is huge compared to most other books of the genre. Although, author has used same foreword in all books of the series; the build up is superb.

Story in this book starts after Ram has killed demon Tatka and her minions with help of his brother Laxman. First chapter shows Ram receiving some dire news by a mysterious beauty and some conflict stirs between Ram and his temporary Guru Vishwamitra. While Sita is faced with a vision orchestrated by Ravana in the second chapter. Various other temporary characters are spotted in next few chapters to emphasize the imminent threat of invasion of Ayoddhya by Ravana. Ram and Laxman are convinced by Guru Vishwamitra to go to Mithila with him instead of returning to Ayoddhya.

During the course of journey, this group meets couple of Kshatriya fighters savings Rikshas (bears) from barbarians. Ram and Laxman join the fight and emerge victorious. Those two unknown warriors join the group headed towards Mithila. A big secret is revealed in next couple of chapters. Next this group goes to Ashram of Sage Gautam and rescue his wife from millenia old curse. Finally, they reach Mithila.

Here, the king is planning to Wed his eldest daughter Sita through swayamvara (practice of choosing husband through some test). Condition of this test includes lifting the Bow of Lord Shiva which is impossible for any mortal. Some new twists are introduced in this scene but in the end Ram wins the swayamvara and weds Sita. Ravana however has decided to invade Mithila instead of Ayoddhya and  his armies have stolen to the city gates. Ram saves the day and decimates the enemy while suffering a great personal sacrifice.

Book ends at this point to be continued to the next one of the series - Demons of Chitrakut. Another parallel plot in this book is of conspiracies carried out in Ayoddhya through spies planted by Ravana. This storyline has no key value in this book but it's mainly a build up for the events to take place in next.

As written in the status, I read this book for second time mainly to sate my curiosity before picking up the new book of Amish Tripathi. See, I read SoM many years ago and at that time found this new version to be very engaging. Events were highly romanticized in this book and I had tagged it as a classic in my mind. Re-read however gave a different perspective altogether. Events are still different and fascinating but they are too few and too long. Author is too descriptive and repetitive to keep the reader engaged. Overall, I would recommend this book for one time read or to read while skipping many pages.

This series is a great effort and I must commend Mr Banker for his grit. There are eight books of the series however after the sixth book, author wanted to end the series. I sincerely wish he had.
From first to sixth, I will insist all mythology lovers to read.
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