Tales of Giants and Demons is a collection of five “Amar Chitra Katha” by ‘Anant Pai’. Anant Pai popularly known as Uncle Pai. He was an Indian educationalist and a pioneer in Indian comics, particular the Amar Chitra Katha series.
The name of the book itself is 5 -IN-1. The book is holding with the stories of, The Lord of Lanka, Ravana Humbled, Mahiravana (son of Ravana and king of the netherworld), Kumbhakarna (the sleeping giant), Ghatotkacha (son of the demoness Hidimba and the the Pandava prince Bheema).
In the first Amar chitra Katha ‘The Lord of Lanka ‘ Uncle Pai say the story of Rakshasa king Ravana, to his birth till his fall . Ravana was the grand son King of the Rakshasas Sumali. His parents are Princess Kaikesi and sage Vishrava. Ravana’s siblings are Kumbhakarna, Shoorpanaka and the noble one Vibheeshna . Ravana is jealous of his half-brother Kubera’s great wealth.Ravana defeats Kubera in battle and seizes the Pushpaka chariot. Ravana find Sita in Dandaka forest and abducted her. Rama went to Lanka with an army to rescued Sita.Rama defeats Ravana in battle and makes Vibhishana the new king of Lanka.
In Ravana humbled, an arrogant king finds new friends. Lord Shiva is impressed by Ravana’s courage, and gives him the sword Chandrahasa. The monkey King Vali of Kishkindha vowed friendship with Ravana.
In MahiRavana, MahiRavana is the son of Ravana and king of the Nether world, he was a magician. Mahi Ravana promised to help Ravana defeat Rama. He managed to dupe the ever vigilant Hanuman and kidnapped Rama and Lakshmana. Hanuman went on the rescue mission. Hanuman attacked and defeated Mahiravana, and Hanuman bringing Rama and Lakshmana back up through the tunnel to safety.
Kumbhakarna, the sleeping giant. He was the younger brother of Ravana. He was strong, but sad to say he was big bully and great urge for food . He loved to frighten and the hurt those who were weaker than him. Lord Brahma given a Boon to Kumbhakarna . Before Kumbhakarna could ask boon, Goddess Saraswati cast a spell. He asked I want to sleep Twenty – Four hours a day. Kumbhakarna slept for once every six months and when he awoke, he ate all things vicinity including human beings. Ravana was embarrassed by Rama and his army in the fight so he decided to awaken his brother Kumbhakarna. He Thought ‘to pick Rama up and fling him into the ocean would be child’s play for Kumbhakarna ‘. The Rakshasa servants took huge effort to wake up the mighty Kumbhakarna. Finally Rama attacked Kumbhakarna with his special arrow, when the arrow found its mark Kumbhakarna fell dead.
Ghatotkacha , son of demoness Hidimba, is an obedient son to his father, Bheema ,the Pandava prince. He may have looked like a demon, but Ghatotkacha was a guardian angel, always ready to help, always cheerful. Ghatotkacha is a prominent character in the story of Mahabharata. In the battle of Mahabharata Karna and Ghatolkachan fought. Ghatotkacha multiplies himself, but Karna shoots arrows at all the Ghatotkachas, and then Ghatotkacha swallowed the arrows, finally Karna picked up the Shakti weapon and threw it , it entered Ghatotkacha’s heart and went upto heaven. As Ghatotkacha is dying, he made his body enormous and fell, crushing a whole Kaurava regiment under him. Pandavas mourned about the death of Ghatotkacha. Ghatotkacha save Arjuna’s life and help pandavas very much to their victory.
When we read this book we can understand, “they break rules and created chaos. But not all the giants and demons in Indian mythology can be called evil”.
This This book is a nice collection of 5 Amar Chitra katha stories , about Indian mythology. This book is easy to read, understand and has a colourful pictures. I suggest this book to everyone . I really liked a lot of characters in this book. I give 5 out of 5 stars for this Amar Chitra Katha book.
Reviewed by Harisanth J. R., Class 6
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