Summary

In Chapter 1, the reader is introduced to Kanthapura by Achakka, the narrator. In the first few pages, the audience is navigated through the landscape of the town and is introduced to Kenchamma the goddess. The narrator describes “she has never failed us I assure you or can“ (2). As the narrator continues, she describes the houses and the people in the village, noting the Santur Coffee estate and the authority of Range Gowda. She describes the Brahmin quarter and Pariah quarter. When she gets to the temple, she describes it as the place where the trouble started. It was the center of their life and it was where Moorthy announced “why not unearth it and wash it and consecrate it” (7). Moorthy becomes the main character of Kanthapura. He had “been to the city and he knew of things we did not know. And yet...