Topic Research: The Apsara Tales

For the Storybook Project, I chose to research apsaras as my topic. I decided to research apsaras over the other topics I brainstormed because of the variety of possible stories. There are a multitude of apsaras and they all have many exciting stories; there are even a number of stories that are told differently depending on the region. For all three of my stories, I will either be retelling a story about a famous Apsara or narrating her inner thoughts about the things she has faced in her life.

(Golden apsara statue, Wikimedia Commons)

I am interested to retell the story of Menaka and Viswatmithra, who fell in love after Menaka was sent by Indra to distract Viswatmithra from his meditations. The story usually goes that after Viswatmithra realizes that he was tricked by Indra, he curses Menaka to be separated from him forever. Despite his curse upon her, Viswatmithra loves Menaka and knows that she loves him too. I'd like to find a happy ending for this couple of it's possible.

The next story I want to tell is about the apsara Tilottama. Instead of retelling one specific story, I'd like to narrate how she feels about being the "enchantress of the gods." Perhaps she wants more from life than to be ogled by every man she meets. Maybe she craves adventure, or has fallen in love with a simple man that extols her kindness and character more than her body. Either way, I want Tilottama to be seen as more than an object of pleasure and to instead be recognized as a complete person.

My final story is definitely more somber than the other two, but I really feel drawn to telling this apsara's story too. I'm talking about Rambha, specifically when she was raped by Ravana. Ravana was cursed by Rambha's husband when he discovered that she had been violated, which later saves Sita from a similar fate in The Ramayana, but what does Rambha do? How does she overcome this? I want to write this story to give her peace and closure after a horrendous experience such as that.