Naag Champa

(1958)

The Maharani of Udayagadh was not blessed with a child by Destiny. But her unflinching faith and whole hearted prayers moved Nagraj who agreed to bless her with her own son in the form of a human child. But he laid down very stiff conditions. Though a human he will inherit the culture of Naga fraternity and will go all craze whenever he listens to the tunes of "Bin". He cannot marry a human girl and if this secret is divulged by the Queen, the son will return to Nagalok and if the son reveal it, he will have to wander on earth as an ordinary snake. The motherly instinct in the Queens heart propted her to consent to the conditins. . Nine months passed and the queen gave birth to a son. The birth of a prince was celebrated with all the joy, gaiety and pomp. But nobody knew the real identity of the prince. . The child prince grew up a handsome youht. The proposals for his engagement started pouring in but the Queen used to put off the proposals. One day, the King announced the engagement of the prince with Champa, the daughter of the neighbouring Kingdom. The Queen tried to break away this engagement but the King wont heed to her. The Prince and the Queen were in a dilemma. The prince goes to dissuade Champa but of no avail. And one day Nagkumar and Champa were tied doen with marriage knots. Nagkumar tries to remain miles away from Champa. Champa doubts the fidelity of Nagkumar. . Nagmati who had nourished a secret desire to marry Nagkumar, designs to take the advantage of this opportunity and her desigas compel the Queen either to disclose the identity of Nagkumar or to get a strain on her chastity. The queen bears this but Nagkumar cannot see this strain on his mother and lets out the secret. His human body immedia- tely takes the shape of a snake. The whole Kingdom got a shock. But Champa stepped out in search of her husband.