Chandrakanta Santati (novel)

Chandrakanta is a popular Hindi novel by Devaki Nandan Khatri. It is considered to be the first work of prose in the modern Hindi language, and may have significantly contributed to the language's popularity. The copyright on the novel expired in 1964 and it is now in public domain, along with other titles by the author. The story is a romantic fantasy about two lovers who belong to rival kingdoms: the princess Chandrakanta of Vijaygarh, and the prince Virendra Singh of Naugarh. Krur Singh, a member of the Vijaygarh king's court who dreams of marrying Chandrakanta and taking over the throne.

When Krur Singh fails in his endeavor, he flees the kingdom and befriends Shivdutt, the powerful neighboring king of Chunargarh (a renaming of "Chunar-fort", referring to the fort in Chunar that inspired Khatri to write the novel). Krur Singh coaxes Shivdutt to ensnare Chandrakanta at any cost. Shivdutt captures Chandrkanta and while running away from Shivdutt, Chandrakanta finds herself as a prisoner in a tilism. After that Kunvar Virendra Singh breaks the tilism and fights with Shivdutt with the help of aiyyars . Chandrakanta, the novel, has many sequels, prominent being a 7-book series (Chandrakanta santati) dealing with the adventure of Chandrakanta and Virendra Singh's children in another major tilism. The locations mentioned in the book are based on actual locations in the district Mirzapur and Sonebhadra, in current day Uttar Pradesh and Gaya,Rohtas districts in Bihar. Original Novel is very much different from the TV serial "Chandrakanta" made by Neerja Guleri. Download a copy of this book from the below link and enjoy your reading.