Dewdrop on the Lotus

A tale of love and lust, courage and cunning, Dewdrop on the Lotus tells the dramatic story of Padmavati Chauhan, a Rajput woman whose extraordinary beauty, courage, and intelligence, whose skills in the arts of women and warriors won from her fellow Rajputs the title Padmini ('lotus woman'). Early in 1303, Ala'ud-Din Khilji, Sultan of Delhi, marched his armies south from Delhi and laid siege to her home, Chittorgarh, the storied fortress-capital of Mewar. Hearing of her beauty, the sultan wanted to make her his own, but no one told him of her courage or intelligence-and she already had a husband, Ratan Singh Guhilot, the Rawal of Mewar. The "now" of the story spans twenty-two days from August 3 to August 25, 1303. Her trial begins when by trickery Ala'ud-Din captures her husband and demands, as part of the ransom, that she surrender herself to him. During this "now," the story weaves back and forth from present to past to explore those aspects of her beliefs, traditions, character, and experiences that shape her response, a response that has enshrined her forever in the legends of India.