Enter Digvijaya

Long before Napoleon’s great defeat in Waterloo, Belgium in 1815, Greek sources revealed that a great king and a conqueror was defeated in the Kingdom of India.

This great battle took place at Jhelum on the Indus River in the spring of 326 BC between King Porus and King Alexander, the great conqueror who thought he had the right to rule the entire world.

Capital Maharaja Group director Aditya Ray

Historians opined that based on his name and the location of his domain, Porus was likely to have been a descendant of the Puru tribe mentioned in the Rig Veda.

Alexander’s army engaged King Porus’s force of 35,000 infantrymen, 10,000 cavalry and 200 battle-trained elephants. Porus with an unusually large physique had ridden an elephant which towered above other beasts. His armour with its gold and silver inlay had lent distinction to his seven foot body.

Had Alexander emerged victories at this battle with Porus, his next destination of invasion would have been Sri Lanka. Hence King Porus’s valiance centuries back in a way had contributed towards safeguarding Sri Lanka from an invasion that would have been disastrous and would have changed the course of the country’s history.

The decisive battle between the two greats is now recreated by Swastik Productions in India as a tele-series titled ‘Digvijaya’ aka Victory. It is directed and produced by Sidddharth Kumar Tewary. The production that is beyond expectation of any TV audience is made to keep viewers glued to their seats. The presentation has a cinematic disposition and comprises of special effects on par with an epic cinema.‘Digvijaya’ has been shot in vivid locations in India and Thailand with five gigantic sets constructed over nine acres.

These opulent sets include the recreation of the kingdoms of

Macedonia and the Pauravas, Persia, Taxila and three huge ports. MTV group director Adithya Ray said at the premiere of ‘Digvijaya’ held at NFC for the media, sponsors and MTV staff, “We have read of Alexander the Great and seen him in epic films. However his victorious journe was halted at the banks of Jhelum by King Porus. ‘Digvijaya’ is based on this untold and captivating story of two valiant kings who respected each other.

This digital production with vivid surroundings is the teleseries made in South Asia with the largest budget. The series had cost 80 million US dollars.”‘Digvijaya’ Sinhala version’s theme song is voiced by Pradeep Rangana of Pem Sihinae fame for the lyrics of Sydney Chadrasekera.

‘Digvijaya’ was premiered on Sirasa TV dubbed in Sinhala on January 6. It is scheduled to be telecast every Saturday and Sunday at 7.55 pm.