Singhasan

Maharaja Sharminder Bhupathi of Avanti and his wife, the Rajmata, would like to see peace in the region, and would like their daughter, Alaknanda, to marry the prince of Gandharva, Aditya Vardhan. While in Gandharva, Aditya has plans of his own, for he loves a courtesan, Jaswanti, and would not dream of marrying anyone else, much to the disapproval of his brother, Ugrarao. Not to be outdone, Alaknanda loves a young warrior by the name of Vikram Singh. Acharya Abangdev of Avanti has plans of his own, which do not include Alaknanda, as he would like to take the region over and rule over it through Ugrarao. Then the unexpected happens, Aditya is reportedly killed by bandits, and Abangdev announces that Ugrarao be the next king, but at the very moment, Aditya shows up, is crowned the king, and makes sweeping changes to Avanti for the betterment of the people. His mother wants him to marry Alaknanda, but he chooses Chandana, and soon both get married. What Aditya does not know is that Chandana is really a beauty filled with venom that will kill anyone who loves her. Over at Gandharva, Alaknanda is crowned the Queen, but is not permitted to marry someone lower than her rank and status. In the background an embittered Abangdev schemes with Bhanu Pratap, and Ugrarao to escalate hostilities between the two kingdoms, which will lead to war, and thus lead him to rule both the kingdoms. —rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)