Raja ( Bengali: রাজা), (also known as The King of the Dark Chamber in the English translation), is a play by Rabindranath Tagore written in 1910. [1] [2] This play is marked as a symbolic play as well as a ‘mystic play’. [2] The story is loosely borrowed from the Buddhist story of King Kush from Mahāvastu. [1] A short stage version of Raja was published under the title of Arupratan in 1920. [1]
The theme of the play is ‘the secret dealing of God with the human heart. [2]
Sukumar Sen described Raja as ‘the first really symbolic drama by Tagore.’ [1]
The play became one of philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein's favourite books, who found in it an expression of his own religious ideal. [3]