Meera

Plot synopsis:
Around 1580 AD during the reign of Emperor Akbar, young Meera (Radha Viswanathan), inﬂuenced by the story of Andal and Krishna, is deeply in love with Krishna, so much so that she considers Krishna to be her husband after she garlands him on an auspicious day as advised by her mother. As Meera grows into a young woman (M. S. Subbulakshmi), her devotion to Krishna grows.
Much against her wishes, Meera is married to Rana (Chittor V. Nagaiah), the king of Mewar. But even after marriage, her love for Krishna remains unchanged. She follows her own ideals and way of living which are not acceptable to Rana and his family, especially his brother Vikraman (T. S. Balaiah) and sister Udra Devi. Meera requests Rana to construct a temple for Krishna in Chittor, the capital of Mewar. Out of love for her, Rana agrees and constructs a temple. An overjoyed Meera remains in the temple most of the time, singing in praise of Krishna along with other devotees and avoids staying at the palace.
On Vijayadasami day, Rana expects Meera to be with him at the royal assembly, when other kings come to offer their respects. But on her way to the assembly, Meera hears Krishna's ﬂute playing, returns to the temple and remains there. The king gets angry when he realises that Meera has gone back to the temple again, thus ignoring her duties as a wife. To get rid of Meera, Vikraman gives a poisoned drink through Udra, but Meera is saved by Krishna and the poison does not affect her. Instead, Krishna's idol at the Dwarakadheesh Temple (the origin of Krishna) becomes deep blue (the poison effect), the temple doors close spontaneously, and remain closed.
At Delhi, Akbar learns about Meera's singing and devotion to Krishna. He sends her a pearl necklace as a gift, which Meera puts on Krishna's idol. Rana gets angry when he comes to know of these developments and her disinterest to fulﬁl her duties as a wife and queen; he orders the demolition of the temple using cannons so that she will come out. Vikraman goes to the temple and orders Meera and the other devotees to come out before the demolition begins. However, Meera refuses, stays back in the temple and continues her bhajans.
Meanwhile, Rana comes to know from his sister Udra about Vikraman's failed attempt to kill Meera by poison. Shocked when he realises Meera's real identity (she is one with Krishna), he rushes to meet her in the temple which is about to be demolished. When a cannon is ﬁred, Rana stops it and gets injured. When Meera hears Krishna calling her, she admits to Rana that she has failed in her duties as a wife. She explains that her heart is with Krishna and seeks Rana's permission to leave palace life and her desire to visit Krishna's temple at Dwaraka. Rana realises her devotion and allows her to go. Once Meera leaves, the Mewar kingdom suffers serious drought and the subjects plead with Rana to bring Meera back, so Rana goes in search of her. Meera ﬁrst goes to Brindavanam and meets the sage (Serukalathur Sama) who originally predicted about her devotion. Together, they leave for Dwaraka, the birthplace of Krishna; on reaching the temple, she starts singing in praise of Krishna. Rana, who has followed her, also reaches the temple. The doors of the temple, which were closed till then, open. Krishna appears and invites Meera inside. Meera runs towards Krishna and falls dead while her soul merges with Him. Rana comes rushing in only to ﬁnd Meera's corpse. Meera's devotion to Krishna is ﬁnally rewarded and she is united with Him.

Tags: tragedy

Review: