The Forgotten Wife : The Story of Hidimbi and Bheem

Deep in a forest on the outskirts of Varnavat | the beautiful Hidimbi encounters Bheem | strong and strikingly handsome. The attraction is mutual and instantaneous. But their union seems doomed from the start: she is a rakshasi | a demoness; he is a Pandava | son of Pandu | erstwhile ruler of the fabled kingdom of Hastinapur. It is Kunti | Bheem’s mother | who senses an opportunity in this unlikely match. She and her five sons—Yudhishthir | Arjun | Bheem and the twins Nakul and Sahadev—must remain in exile in the forest for a year before they can do battle with their Kaurava cousins | and stake their claim to Pandu’s kingdom. What better than to spend the time under the protection of a rakshasi? And if a son is born to her | he will have the strength of a rakshasa—a valuable ally in the battle with the Kauravas. So a deal is struck. Hidimbi will be Bheem’s wife—but only for a year. And any son born of their union will come to the aid of the Pandavas whenever they call him. When the battle of Kurukshetra finally takes place | it is Ghatotkach | son of Bheem and Hidimbi | who fights valiantly for his father | until he is struck down by the mighty warrior Karna | Kunti’s secret son | who has aligned with the Kauravas. But in killing Ghatotkach | Karna uses his most powerful weapon | leaving himself vulnerable. The Pandavas’ victory is assured. The story of Bheem and Hidimbi—and their star-crossed son | Ghatotkach— is one of the most fascinating from the Mahabharata. Madhavi Mahdevan’s retelling of it is spell-binding.