Chapter 47 - Chapter 47

Azhvarkadiyan saw Arasilankumari and went to his brother Eesana Siva Pattar's house. His house was very close to the Vadamettruli Siva temple. It will be half a mile away from the palace. If we go from the Cola palace to the Vadamettruli temple, we get an idea of the vastness of Pazhaiyarai and its other specialities.

Azhvarkadiyan saw that all the celebrations of Krishna Jayanthi had died down somehow. As he passed through the houses, he noticed that the women were gathered at the corners of the house and talking angrily. All those women had garlanded their husbands or sons around their necks and enthusiastically sent them to the Eelam front. In the heroic battles waged by the Chola armies in all four directions, there was never a single soldier who did not go from each of those houses and attain the heroic heaven. Thirumalaiappan saw such women now muttering disapprovingly. He went on worrying about the catastrophe in which all this would end.

It was quite dark when he reached the Vadamettruli temple. This is the temple sung by Appar Perumal. In the time of the saint, the Jains had built artificial hills around the temple and made cubits in those hills. The Digambara Jains were sitting in the artificial mountain caves and performing penance. To remind us of this, even today there is a place called Muzhayur near Pazhaiyarai.

When Appar Peruman heard about the glory of Pazhaiyarai and reached there, the Jains had completely covered the Siva temple. Appar who came to know this with the knowledge of the Self regretted his heart. As the representative of the Pallavas, he appealed to the feudatory king who was at that time the ruler of the Chola kingdom. The king demolished a portion of the artificial pegs and found a small Shiva temple inside. Appar was ecstatic and sang.

The temple was later glorified by the Chola kings and built as a stone temple. But the temple was still surrounded by a wall of the courtyard. There was only one gopuram gate to enter the temple; There is no other entrance. The house of Eesana Sivapattar can be easily reached by entering the prakara through the Gopuram entrance. If not, you have to go round and round.

Thus he entered the entrance of Tirumalai Gopuram to reach his brother's house by a short cut. Inside, I could see some devotees standing in the Lord's shrine. They seemed to be a group disguised as Krishna and Balarama. "Aha! Where did they come here!" before he could think, Eesana Sivapattar came out of the temple in a hurry. He grabbed the hand of Thirumalai who had just entered the entrance of the tower and dragged him out excitedly.

"Brother! What is this?" asked Azhvarkadiyan.

"I will tell you, Thirumalai! From now on, let all our relations be outside the temple. You are Pathithan; Shiva blasphemer; Don't step into this Shiva temple! Do you see? I also waited a lot. I cant bear to hear you speak before the Great Queen today. Come home and fill your big belly! But don't step into the temple! If I step on, I will become Chandeswara Nayanar!"

Saying this, Eesana Sivapattar grabbed Tirumalai's neck and pushed him away and slammed the temple door. "Brother! Anna....." without listening to Thirumalai saying something, he locked the temple door from inside and went away.

"Oh! Is that the case?" muttered Azhvarkadiyan. He stood there for a while. Then he went round the temple two or three times, including the Jaina knuckles. He deliberately went around to the left, thinking that if he went to the right, he would have done the circumambulation. He saw that all the gates of the Jaina knees were well closed on the circular rocks. Then Eesana went to Sivapattar's house. Pattar's wife is very fond of Thirumalai who talks funny. He talked to her more jovially than usual, ate his stomach full of Shiva temple prasadam and lay down on the porch.

He remembered a vision he had seen on the banks of the Kudamurutti river on the first day. He heard some horses galloping in the opposite direction and hid himself behind the thick bamboo bushes nearby.

The first horse came running like a loom. It was dripping wet; I don't know if it was because of sweat or because the river was flooded. A small child was sitting on the horse, and he was tied to the horse. The boy's face wore a look of horror combined with determination. Four or five more horses came a little behind. Soldiers with spears came over them. It seemed that they would soon be caught. One of them raised his spear above his head and aimed it at the horse in front. Another stopped it.

At that time the child had to go under the thick bamboo bushes. A low branch of a bamboo tree got stuck in his hair. The horse pulled forward, and the latter caught hold of the horse, as they were waiting for the fate of the child.

They were amazed, amazed, and angry when they saw the child tied to the horse. They asked him something. He stammered back. Azhvarkadiyan did not hear in detail. "Where is he?" "Where is he?" he heard the question that had been asked many times. The young boy "went with the river!" "He has fallen into the flood!" he sobbed. Then the soldiers took the boy and the horse with them and went off along the riverbank.

At that time, Thirumalaiappan did not understand the meaning of this incident. Now it seemed to make some sense.

In the meantime, he remembered the street theatre troupe. In particular, he remembered the mannerisms and voice of the man who was dressed as Kansa and covered his own face with a wooden doll's face. The voice that sounded like it had been heard before began to be interpreted as to whose voice it was.

Eesana Sivapattar came to his house after performing Arthajama Pooja at night. He saw Azhvarkadiyan lying on the porch.

"Thirumalai! Thirumalai!" he called in an angry voice.

He pretended that Thirumalai was fast asleep.

Pattar slammed the door of the house and went in. Thirumalai half heard him talking to his wife in a belligerent manner. Thirumalai knew that the fight was about him.

When Eesana Sivapattar woke up in the morning, he came to Tirumala and asked, "When are you going to tour the country again?"

"I will leave after your anger subsides, Anna!" he said.

"Don't call me 'Anna' anymore. I am not your brother from this day; You are not my brother. You are a Shiva bastard; Neeson; Chandala..."

Pattar's wife interceded for Thirumalai and said, "Why are you cursing him like this! What a new thing he had not said all these days! Your devotion to Shiva has become so great!"

"You don't know anything! Do you know what he said yesterday in the presence of the Great Queen? 'What is the use of a temple for Paramasivan who roams around smearing sambar in the crematorium?' he asked. It was as if molten lead had been poured into my ear. The Queen hasn't slept all night!"

"He won't talk like that anymore. I will advise and correct you. If you say a good word to him, he listens!"

"A good word has been made; And the evil word became. Let him go to Rameswaram at once. Let him worship the Shivalinga that Rama worshipped and cleansed himself of his sins. That is his penance. Until I do that, I won't wake up in his face!"

Tirumalai's lips quivered. To be repaid with interest. But he was patient, saying that if he spoke, it would spoil the matter.

Pattar's wife intervened again at this time and asked, "What is that? If you ask him to go to Rameswaram, he goes. We can go with him. Even after so many days, we have not had a child. What sin did we commit in our previous birth? Thirumalai! Shall we all go to Rameswaram?"

Sivapattar glared at both of them angrily and left.

After a while, Eesana Pattar came back and spoke calmly to Tirumalai.

"Brother! ' The elders have said, 'Anger, sin, sandalam'. I gave way to anger. You don't have any regrets?"

"Not at all!" said Azhvarkadiyan.

"Then you stay here! I will come back after the noon puja. I want to tell you something important and ask for advice. You are here, aren't you? Aren't you going anywhere?"

"I'm not going anywhere, brother! I have no intention of leaving you anywhere!"

Butter was gone. Azhvarkadiyan said to himself, "Is that so!" Then he left without even telling his sister-in-law. He went round the Vadamattruli temple two or three times surrounded by rocks. Every now and then, if he heard a sound, he would immediately hide.

His expectations were not in vain. The door of one of the Samanas knuckles opened slowly. First Eesana Sivapattar looked on three sides and came out. Then another man came out. Aha! Who is he? Don't you see your face? Looking at his physique, he looks like he was disguised as Kansa! Who could it be? This does not go undetected. Whoa! Is that why there is so much anger and magic?

The two emerged from their knees and went forward. Azhvarkadiyan sneaked away and followed.

After walking for a while, they reached the bank of the stream. It was the stream behind the Chola palace that flowed like the sea. But it was far to the west of the palace.

There were many dense trees on the bank of the stream. Azhvarkadiyan was standing behind one of them and sticking his head between two branches to watch.

A boat floated on the waves. It looked like a palace yacht. The boatman was standing on the shore.

When he saw Pattar and his companion, he pulled the boat to the shore.

They both got into the boat. As the boat began to sail into the water, the man with the butter turned to look towards the shore.

His face was bright and clear.

Azhvarkadiyan was not surprised. He was the man he was looking for.

That brave young man I met in Veeranarayanapuram and the Kollidam boat!

There is no doubt that he was the one who was disguised as Kansa.

Where do they get into the boat and go? — That too must be found! That is, he had to see if his guess was correct.

One of the last mansions was locked in the street where many Chola mansions stood skyscraper. It was the palace of Sundara Cholar's chief minister Anirutha Brahmarayar. Chief Minister Aniruthar had gone to Madurai to reform the royal administration of the Pandya kingdom. His family was in Thanjavur. So his Pazhaiyarai mansion was locked.

Azhvarkadiyan came to this palace. On seeing him, the guards of the palace came reverently to him. He ordered the door of the palace to be opened. The guards opened the door. Then, at his command, they locked it on the outside. He passed through the three blocks of the mansion and came to the back garden. Out of the garden went a vineyard, split through the close bushes. Tirumalai entered it and in a short time reached the garden of Kundavai Devi's palace. He stood in a hidden place in a flaghouse and looked around. It was not in vain that he had taken so much pain.

There was a dramatic event which deserves to be described by Kalidasa and other great poets.

The boat stopped on the bank of the stream. Eesana Pattar and Vandhiyathevan got down from it. Then they came up the stairs of the water dock.

The junior stateswoman Kundavai was sitting on a marble platform in the garden at a little distance from the stairs.

When those who came in the boat climbed the steps of the water pier and came upstairs, the junior stateswoman Kundavai Devi stood up.

It was then that Vandhiyathevan looked at the queen's face.

He stood there watching.

Between him and the junior stateswoman Kundavai, a flower creeper stood with its tender hand stretched out.

A beautiful silk moth—a silk moth with many-colored feathers—came and sat on the vine. Kundavai bent her golden face a little and looked at the silkworm.

Vandhiyathevan stood staring at Kundavai's face without blinking his eyes. The waves in the stream ceased and subsided.

The birds stopped singing. The cosmic universes stood still.

Many ages passed.