Hayavadana: Character Mind Map & Summary
The key characters of Girish Karnad's Hayavadana (1971), grouped into branches, with the key episodes, a quick summary and the exam facts that come up again and again in UGC NET.
The Character Mind Map
Tap any name to open the details.
Padmini
A beautiful woman married to the intellectual Devadatta but attracted to his strong friend Kapila. When the two men's heads are swapped, she must decide who is her husband.
Fate: commits sati after both men die👑 The Triangle
Three loversDevadattaThe mind
Role: A poet and scholar; Padmini's husband.
KapilaThe body
Role: A strong, simple man; Devadatta's friend.
🏠 The Frame
Myth & theatreHayavadanaHorse-headed man
Role: Wants to become complete.
Outcome: Becomes a complete horseThe BhagavataNarrator
Role: A Yakshagana-style chorus.
KaliThe goddess
Role: Lets Padmini join the heads, and she mixes them up.
Key Episodes
The turning points examiners love to ask about.
Quick Summary
The story, stage by stage.
Stage 1Hayavadana
- The frame story.
Stage 2The Triangle
- Love and jealousy.
Stage 3The Swap
- Head vs body.
Stage 4Death
- The duel and sati.
Must-Know Exam Facts
Quick points for UGC NET, SET and PGT.
Source
Thomas Mann's The Transposed Heads, from the Vetala Panchavimshati.
Form
Uses Yakshagana folk theatre, masks and a narrator.
Theme
Incompleteness, identity, mind vs body.
Award
Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay Award.
Additional Revision Notes
Further plot, character and exam-focused literary insights.
The Exchange of Heads
Devadatta and Kapila undergo a fantastical exchange of heads, creating a puzzle about whether personal identity rests in the mind or the body.
Padmini's Desire
Padmini is caught between different ideals of intellectual and physical perfection. Her choices make the philosophical puzzle emotionally consequential.
Parallel Plot
The horse-headed Hayavadana develops the theme of incompleteness in a separate comic-fantastic strand. Folk-theatre devices make Karnad's staging distinctive.
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