Panchaali is the narrator and protagonist of The Palace of Illusions. She and her brother, Dhri, are born from fire into the kingdom of King Drupad, their father. From a very early age, her central struggle is the strict gender conventions of her community—men are warriors and statesmen while women are beautiful objects who must remain at home and practice the domestic arts. She notes, “I hungered to know about the amazing, mysterious world that extended past what I could imagine, the world of the senses and that which lay beyond them” (24). In order to develop her mind and spirit beyond the confines of her gender, she sits in on her brother’s lessons, learning about government and the world. She also consults the sage Vyasa, who reveals that she will be a great and powerful queen who marries five husbands but also causes great destruction and sadness in her kingdom.

Though Panchaali fulfills Vyasa’s prophesy by marrying the five Pandava brothers, she pines after Karna, a warrior who competed at her swayamvar. The Pandavas live in the Palace of illusions, and Panchaali notes that the palace “had transformed me in ways I hadn’t realized” (180).