At the outset, there are two obvious reasons for attempting a critical work on Chtra Banerjee’s The Forest of Enchantments. First, it is Ramayan that kept me interested as an ancient Indian mythology and for which I still remember the childhood days when my beloved mother narrated all the story episode by episode in a gripping account.Second, my serious interest to do a book on Chitra Banerjee’s The Forest of Enchantments moved me very much when I read the novel. Though Chitra presented the story in a different way, I differ in certain plots and accept her narration in certain settings and locales. Anyway, it is a creation rooted in Indian characters of immense output and weightage considered to be a standard document in epical dimensions. On that note, I am immensely happy to write a critical book on the Ramayan by taking Sita as the “Living Indian Psyche”. The centre of action is Sita and the story revolves around her as the protagonist of the novel. I have touched upon different secondary sources in order to justify my arguments for and against this classical work. Differences exist to bring about variety. I quoted the sources which I cited them in the book. It is hoped that the critical volume would be an important contribution to Indian Writing in English.

P.V.Laxmiprasad

Indian Scholar