Despite his strict Protestant upbringing in Calw, Baden-Württemberg, in southern Germany, India appeared to be a natural choice for him. In 1911, when he journeyed to India, Hermann Hesse was on a spiritual search, much like his protagonist Siddhartha. This was founded on German Romanticism and ancient India of the ‘Vedas’ and Romantic Hinduism. Hermann Hesse, like them, had a romantic view of ancient, spiritual India. Hesse’s fable about the Brahmin child seeking redemption was based on a common conception of India held by Indologists or Western academics studying India at the time.
Inspired by Buddha, who gave up his kingdom, Siddhartha abandons his lavish lifestyle and embarks on a quest with his closest friend Govinda to discover the purpose of life. Even though the scriptures provide answers about the soul and its immortality, Siddhartha is eager to encounter individuals who embody this reality. Siddhartha, the protagonist, is born into an affluent family of Brahmins or Hindu priests. Hermann Hesse’s novel Siddhartha crosses a decade
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