The Palace of Illusions is the Mahabharatha from the perspective of Panchali written by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. I loved this book. The Palace of Illusion is the Palace where Panchali was a mistress, the palace in Indraprastha which was a reason for her humiliation before the Sabha in Hastinapura.
Panchali, an uninvited member to King Drupad's family from the sacred fire. The ritual was carried out to get a son to fulfil his vengeance of killing Dronacharya. She was not a gift, she is the one who paved the way for fulfilling his vengeance. She never got a mother's love, even her father visited her rarely. She yearned for love. The only two persons who were close to her was Dhai Ma and her brother Dhristadyumna. Krishna visits her often and he was her close friend.
Krishna calls Panchaali as Krishnaa, the female version of him. She once came to know about a fortune teller and visited him. He was Vyasa. Vyasa said her she will marry 5 men and will be a cause of war, Kurushetra but she doesn't believe his prophecy.
She always wants to be loved but she doesn't get the love she sought from Arjun as he married all her brothers. she sometimes thinks if she had married Karna she may have got the love she yearned. She is the thread that always makes Pandavas united and stay together. Pandavas never argue with their mother and believe in her words so Kunti took it as an advantage and doesn't take back the words and made Panchali marry Pandavas.
The one thing that we should see is that Pandavas had a lot of wives but they all never stayed with them except Panchali and even she is the only one with them in all their journey in life. She was with them in tough and happiest moments in their life. She chose to go with them to exile and to mahaprastha.
I just wish to have a friend like Krishna who came to rescue her when her husbands and all men in her family were standing quiet, seeing Dushasana humiliating her. Loved the book from the perspective of a woman.
She was a strong woman. She always wanted to rebel against the boundaries society has prescribed for women. She even took part in political matters and helped Yudhustira. She created a sabha to help women in Hastinapura after the Kurukshetra.
I really loved her writing. I can't just stop reading, completed within days. The story we know, heard from the parents, watched as a movie, series, narration in temples, but reading from the perspective from Panchaali made me love this book.
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