''The Krishna Key'' is a 2012 anthropological thriller by

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n author

Ashwin Sanghi Ashwin Sanghi (born 25 January 1969) is an Indian writer. His novels include '' The Rozabal Line'', '' Chanakya's Chant'', '' The Krishna Key'', ''The Sialkot Saga'', ''Keepers Of The Kalachakra'', ''The Vault of Vishnu'', and ''The Magicians o ...

and is his third novel. The book follows a history professor who has to prove his innocence against a murder charge.

Plot summary

''The Krishna Key'' centers around Professor Ravi Mohan Saini, the protagonist and a historian who has been accused of the murder of his childhood friend Anil Varshney, a famous

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

who has managed to decipher the script of Indus Valley seals. In an attempt to clear his name, Saini looks into the past of Indian Mythology's grey and unexplored areas and uncovers the truth about a serial killer, Taarak Vakil who believes himself to be

Kalki Kalki (), also called Kalkin, is the prophesied tenth and final incarnation of the Hinduism, Hindu god Vishnu. According to Vaishnavism, Vaishnava cosmology, Kalki is destined to appear at the end of the Kali Yuga, the last of the four ages i ...

, the final avatar of

Lord Vishnu Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation (sattva). Vish ...

. Saini travels from the ancient ruins of the Lost City of

Dvārakā Dvārakā, also known as Dvāravatī (Sanskrit द्वारका "the gated

ity The pyramid of Ity was probably the tomb of Pharaoh who reigned during the 8th dynasty. It has never been discovered and is known only from a cliff-face inscription at Wadi Hammamat in the Eastern Desert, where there were several quarries in P ...

, possibly meaning having many gates, or alternatively having one or several very grand gates), is a sacred historic city in the sacred literature of Hi ...

to a temple in Vrindavan which was almost destroyed by the Mughal Emperor

Aurangzeb Alamgir I (Muhi al-Din Muhammad; 3 November 1618 – 3 March 1707), commonly known by the title Aurangzeb, also called Aurangzeb the Conqueror, was the sixth Mughal emperors, Mughal emperor, reigning from 1658 until his death in 1707, becomi ...

in an attempt to discover one of Krishna's lost treasures, the

Syamantaka The Syamantaka () is a legendary jewel featured in Hindu texts, Hindu literature, regarded to be blessed with magical powers. It is described to be a ruby. The jewel is described to protect its owner if they were virtuous and good, but bring evil ...

gem, also known in alchemy as the

philosopher's stone The philosopher's stone is a mythic alchemical substance capable of turning base metals such as mercury into gold or silver; it was also known as "the tincture" and "the powder". Alchemists additionally believed that it could be used to mak ...

, and stop the killer from murdering his friends who are also under the threat. The plot involves four different pieces of a seal which must be brought together to solve the puzzle. Each part of the seal is in the possession of different people who are the descendants of the ancient

Yadava The Yadava (), not to be confused with Yadav, were an ancient Indian people who believed to have descended from Yadu (legendary king), Yadu, a legendary king of Chandravamsha lineage. The community was formed of various clans, being the #T ...

tribe, namely

Saini Saini () is a farming and landowning caste of northern India. The community is given reservation in India, representation in government jobs and educational institutes as an Other Backward Class (OBC) in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab (I ...

Bhoja Bhoja was the Paramara dynasty, Paramara king of Malwa from 1010 until his death in 1055. He ruled from Dhara (city), Dhara (modern Dhar), and Military career of Bhoja, fought wars with nearly all his neighbours in attempts to extend his king ...

Vrishni The Vrishnis (, ) were an ancient Indian clan who were believed to be the descendants of Vrishni. It is believed that Vrishni was the son of Satvata, a descendant of Yadu, the son of Yayati. He had two wives, Gandhari and Madri, not to be conf ...

, Kukura and Chedi. The author narrates a detailed version of the post-

Mahabharatha The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the '' Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kurukshetra War, a war of succes ...

history through the protagonist, a distinguished professor of history, who himself happens to be a lineal descendant of Lord

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

being from

tribe of Punjab. The author also portrays the biography of Lord Krishna in his own words, in parallel to the main story-line.

Research

Sanghi stated that he "wanted to do a story in connection with the Mahabharata, but not retelling of the epic which has already been done" and undertook a month's research, saying that he "had to be extremely cautious in dealing with this topic as we put a premium on personal belief and faith". He chose Krishna as one of the book's themes because Krishna is a "perfectly grey character".

References

External links

''The Krishna Key'' Official Website

Interview with the author

Official book trailer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Krishna Key 2012 Indian novels Indian crime novels Westland Books books

Plot summary

Research

See also

References

External links