Authors:

Anjana . , Indu A S

Abstract:

As Michel Foucault famously noted, “For millennia, man remained what he was for Aristotle: a living animal with the additional capacity for a political existence; modern man is an animal whose politics places his existence as a living being in question” (The History of Sexuality 143). This paper explores how Amish Tripathi’s The Secret of the Nagas brings this theory to life by using the mythical tension between the cities of Meluha and Panchavati to criticise the biopolitical control. Foucault defines biopower as “the ancient right to take life or let live was replaced by a power to foster life or disallow it to the point of death” (The History of Sexuality 138). In Tripathi’s world, Meluha represents this power through the Somras drink, thereby achieving longevity and genetic perfection. By connecting a citizen’s worth to their physical health, Meluha discards the ‘defective’ Nagas as politically and aesthetically irrelevant. Meanwhile, the hidden city of Panchavati acts an alternative space that mirrors and challenges Meluha. This contrast reveals how Meluha’s health regulations normalise exclusion, turning biological differences into existential threats.  By mapping Foucault’s heterotopia onto Panchavati, the research demonstrates how alternative spatial representations in postcolonial Indian literature serve as a critical reflection of state-driven exclusion and the marginalisation of aesthetic expression.

Keywords:

Heterotopia, Monstrosity, Bio-power, Meluha, Panchavati, Nagas

Vol & Issue:

VOL.18, ISSUE No.1, March 2026