A guide to the Sati series
With four books from the bestselling Sati series on the shelves, and a fifth just out this year, here’s everything you need to know about Koral Dasgupta’s books, from the order to read them in, to what the final installment is about.
In the Sati series, Koral Dasgupta explores the lives of the Pancha Kanyas from the Hindu epics and reinvents them with a feminist consciousness.
What are the books about?
Unrelated to each other in their stories, characters, and plot, the books in the Sati series strive to bring to the forefront the extraordinary lives of all the Pancha Kanyas: Ahalya, Kunti, Draupadi, Mandodari, and Tara.
Should you read the books in order?
While the books can be read as standalone novels, they are best enjoyed in sequence. If you don’t know where to start, the books are listed below.
What is the latest book in the Sati series?
The epic story of Tara, the vanar queen from the Ramayan, in which human and animal destinies intertwine in a clash of courage and kinship.
‘Tara’s nuanced narrative is bathed in grace and empathy’ NAMITA GOKHALE
‘A powerful depiction’ AMISH
The Sati Series in order:
The first book in the series, Ahalya hinges on questions about her truth, narrating the course of her life, from innocence to infidelity.
Ahalya
by Koral Dasgupta
‘Lyrical and poetic ... enthralling’ BIBEK DEBROY
‘A magical and thought-provoking adventure, Ahalya will intrigue and mesmerize readers’ CHITRA BANERJEE DIVAKARUNI
‘An enigmatic tale about purity, chastity, seduction and redemption’ NAMITA GOKHALE
‘Brilliant and intriguing’ ANAND NEELAKANTAN
'Koral Dasgupta gives voice, character, and agency to an enigmatic and fascinating female figure from ancient Hindu lore' PHILIP LUTGENDORF
It is known that Ahalya was cursed by her husband, Gautam, for indulging in a physical relationship with Indra. But is there another story to Ahalya's truth? Who was Indra anyway? A king? A lover? A philanderer? The first book of the Sati series, Ahalya hinges on these core questions, narrating the course of her life, from innocence to infidelity.
In the Sati series, Koral Dasgupta explores the lives of the Pancha Kanyas from Indian mythology, all of whom had partners other than their husbands and yet are revered as the most enlightened women, whose purity of mind precedes over the purity of body. The five books of the Sati series reinvent these women and their men, in the modern context with a feminist consciousness.
Kunti is a brilliant and tender retelling of a story at the heart of our culture and mythology about a rare matriarch in the Mahabharat and one of the revered Pancha Satis.
Kunti
by Koral Dasgupta
‘Koral Dasgupta writes with verve, emotion and passion ... [Kunti] is a must for those wishing to know about our past and the dialectics of gender within it’ PAVAN K. VARMA
Kunti, a rare matriarch in the Mahabharata and one of the revered Pancha Satis, holds an unforgettable position in the Indian literary imagination. Yet, little is known about the fateful events that shaped her early life.
Taking on the intricate task, Koral Dasgupta unravels the lesser-known strands of Kunti’s story: through a childhood of scholarly pursuits to unwanted motherhood at adolescence, a detached marriage and her ambitious love for the king of the devas.
After the remarkable success of Ahalya, the first book in the Sati series, Kunti presents a brilliant and tender retelling of a story at the heart of our culture and mythology.
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In the Sati series, Koral Dasgupta explores the lives of the Pancha Kanyas from Indian mythology and reinvents them in the modern context with a feminist consciousness.
*
Praise for Ahalya
‘Koral Dasgupta gives voice, character and agency to an enigmatic and fascinating female figure from ancient Hindu lore’ PHILIP LUTGENDORF
Draupadi, the third book in the Sati series, is bold, intimate and immersive. In an epic filled with fiery men, it explores the fire-born queen’s true dreams and desires.
Draupadi
by Koral Dasgupta
‘Ahalya, Draupadi, Kunti, Tara, Mandodari – each of the Pancha Kanyas is fascinating ... Koral Dasgupta’s wonderful retelling adds to this corpus, with a lyrical and poetic quality’ BIBEK DEBROY
THE THIRD BOOK IN THE EXCEPTIONAL FIVE-PART SATI SERIES BY KORAL DASGUPTA
Draupadi is immortalized as the beloved princess of Panchal and the queen of Indraprastha in Indian myth and legend. Yet what do we really know of the fire-born queen’s dreams? What were her true desires?
In Koral Dasgupta’s thrilling new interpretation, Draupadi’s interior story, often relegated to the margins, is vividly foregrounded – from her unique friendship with Krishna, unconventional marriage to the Pandav brothers, to her quirky relationships with Kunti and Bhishma, and her deep passion for building a loving home. Bold, intimate and immersive, it thrusts the reader straight into the heart and mind of an unforgettable heroine from the Mahabharat, who remains both contemporary and timeless.
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In the Sati series, Koral Dasgupta explores the lives of the Pancha Kanyas from the Hindu epics and reinvents them with a feminist consciousness.
Praise for the Sati series
‘Magical and thought-provoking’ CHITRA BANERJEE DIVAKARUNI
‘Enigmatic’ NAMITA GOKHALE
‘A must for those wishing to know about our past and the dialectics of gender within it’ PAVAN K. VARMA
Mandodari is the untold story of the queen of Lanka, torn between two conflicting ideologies – Ram Rajya and Ravan Raj.
Mandodari
by Koral Dasgupta
‘Imaginative, intense and insightful … After Ahalya, Kunti *and *Draupadi, Koral Dasgupta brings us Mandodari, the fourth of the Pancha Kanyas in the Sati series. Narrated in Koral’s signature style, the exchanges of Mandodari and Sita (and their implications for Ravan and Ram) are absolutely fascinating.’ Ashwin Sanghi
**The untold story of the queen of Lanka, torn between two conflicting ideologies – Ram Rajya and Ravan Raj!
** Mandodari, a significant yet oft-forgotten figure of the Ramayan, has long been eclipsed by her infamous husband, Ravan – the epic’s great antagonist. Celebrated for her beauty and piety, Mandodari’s remarkable talents and pivotal role in shaping the mystical kingdom of Lanka have languished in obscurity, until now.
Koral Dasgupta’s enthralling tale of power, love and loyalty grants a rare and intimate glimpse into one of the Ramayan’s most enigmatic female characters. As the queen of Lanka, Mandodari confronts a myriad challenges – from her frustration with Sita’s captivity, to Surpnakha’s deceitful ways, and the daunting task of steering an impossible dream for her husband.
In this fourth book of the bestselling Sati series, Mandodari’s formidable inner mastermind is unleashed, revealing how powerful women must navigate the intricate balance between the calls of the heart and duties of leadership.
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In the Sati series, Koral Dasgupta explores the lives of the Pancha Kanyas from the Hindu epics and reinvents them with a feminist consciousness.
*
Praise for the Sati series
‘Ahalya, Draupadi, Kunti, Tara, Mandodari – each of the Pancha Kanyas is fascinating ... Koral Dasgupta’s wonderful retelling adds to this corpus, with a lyrical and poetic quality’ BIBEK DEBROY
‘Magical and thought-provoking’ CHITRA BANERJEE DIVAKARUNI
‘Enigmatic’ NAMITA GOKHALE
‘A must for those wishing to know about our past and the dialectics of gender within it’ PAVAN K. VARMA
About the author of the Sati Series:
Koral Dasgupta has published an eclectic range of books, from academic non-fiction to relationship dramas. Her books are discussed in the context of gender studies, art, myth, and ecocritical literature. The books in the Sati series have been nominated for various prestigious awards, with Ahalya most recently being recommended for the 2023 Sahitya Akademi Prize Honour List.