Kalinga Deva - The Protector

Kalinga Deva was considered the protector of Padubidri village. The powerful deity's temple had been situated in the heart of the village. The majority of the people in the village were innocent and illiterate. Raghavendra, a pious man had been the head of the village and he was respected by the villagers for his humble demeanour and service mindset. He was also adept in astrology which he used as leverage to solve the problems of people. He metamorphosed himself into a great human being who had no haters or detractors. The onus was on him to perform daily pooja of the deity and he sincerely did his duty with utmost respect to the God. His father used to perform pooja which was then passed on to him so the tradition had been followed since time immemorial. Being a strong believer in Kalinga Deva, he frequently organized rituals for the deity and peace and happiness reigned supreme in the village. He had a wife named Kamala and two sons Bhaskar and Anubhav. As he was turning old, he wanted his son Bhaskar to fill his shoes. Bhaskar was a xerox copy of his father in terms of personality. He had all the qualifications to carry forward his father's legacy.

Life throws a curve ball when you think everything is going hunky dory. The tsunami set its foot in Raghavendra's family. Bhaskar and Raghavendra died in mysterious circumstances much to the grief of the village. They had been murdered which was palpable with the red crimson smeared all over their bodies. The unimaginable circumstances forced Anubhav to fill the shoes of his father. The villagers were gripped by fear following the untimely death of the revered village head. They deemed his demise to be inauspicious and feared the wrath of God. 

"My father and brother both were pure souls. Why did they have to die in such a barbaric manner? My father always organized rituals for the deity but what did he do in return? As you say, if Kalinga Deva was to protect us, why didn't he protect his main devotee? Nobody has seen God and all we believe is cooked stories drilled into our heads. The tragedy that meted out to my father and brother is unbearable and unimaginable. I will not follow the path of my father rather I will burn all these age-old traditions to ashes. There is no other God in this village and I am the main God," he asserted.

His words sent shivers down the spine of the villagers. The double whammy of losing their village head and seeing his son go rogue hurt them. Anubhav refrained from doing the pooja to the deity which did not go down well with his mother. She pleaded with him to not stop the age-old tradition but her words fell on deaf ears. When someone in the village tried to perform pooja he would confront them and ask them to do pooja to him instead. 

Anubhav never cared about the grievances of the village folks since he was immersed in his ignorance. The villagers couldn't grapple with the problems that kept on mounting in their lives. The new village head never attended to their needs contrary to his father. He even contemplated bulldozing the temple and replacing it with a brothel accommodating village girls in it. This news yanked village girls into depression who feared for their lives. He even allowed the drugs and alcohol to become ubiquitous in the village thereby breaching the holiness of the land. He had already gone beyond limits which was a testament to his demonic personality. All considered him to be an anomaly in the village born to destroy the sanctity of the place. He had recruited hundreds of goondas and was equipped with ammunition. Even though villagers opposed his moves they couldn't go against him and if they did so he would ensure their lives turned hell in a matter of minutes. A few villagers showed the guts to reprimand him and they all met with a tragic fate. They were brutally whipped and hung to a tree. Unable to see his son indulge in barbaric activities Kamala committed suicide. Anubhav didn't even mourn the death of his mother since he was drowned in his luxuries. His arrogance had hit the rooftop. The Kalinga Deva temple looked deserted since no one was granted permission to go inside thanks to the present village head. The renowned temple that had been there for ages was to see its end the next day since Anubhav ordered the goondas to destroy it. There was no iota of spiritual knowledge left in his soul tank that only lingered with demonic thoughts. Once a picturesque village wafting positive fragrance all around became a hotspot for wicked activities. Only divine intervention could save the village and its people from the evil clutches of Anubhav. 

The villagers shed tears reminiscing the previous year when Dusshera was celebrated throughout the village on a grand scale. In contrast, this year's Navaratri only filled them with agony. They strongly believed that before the end of Dusshera, the good will trample over the evil thereby restoring peace once again. On the last day of Navaratri, Anubhav set out to oversee the demolition of the hallowed temple and on his way, he happened to encounter a dog that incessantly barked at him. He thrust his hand into the pocket, pulled out a revolver and fired a bullet at the dog that yelped terribly before breathing its last. His mind inundated with nasty thoughts did not augur well for the village. He barged into the temple only to see a monk who was on the verge of performing pooja to the deity. He interrupted the monk who was reciting a hymn for the deity. Anubhav's eyes reddened which reflected his vexation.

"Who gave you the permission to come here leave alone do pooja?" he fumed.

"Kalinga Deva permitted me to come here. What you are doing incurs the wrath of the deity. This is his village and we all are his devotees. Never cross the line and never become a moron who tries to confront God. You are bound to fail," the monk responded.

His words provoked Anubhav and he slapped the monk in front of the idol.

"Who are you to preach to me? You are nothing but a monk. I am the God of this village and nobody has the guts to confront me. If your deity indeed exists ask him to come and face me one on one," he roared letting his temper explode.

"We cannot call you a God and you don't possess any qualities of God," the monk said.

Something inside Anubhav snapped.

"Nobody has permission to break my rules. I will kill you and set an example to this village that my wrath is a thousand times more than your deity's wrath," he pulled the monk to the centre of the temple.

The temple was engulfed by the villagers who looked perturbed by the ugly scene unfolding inside the temple premises. Anubhav roared like a demon and pulled the sword that was clung to the wall. Before he could behead the monk, he was taken aback by the strange behaviour of the monk who was possessed by the deity. Kalinga Deva let out a massive earth-shaking roar that sent tremors through the earth. The arrival of the deity indeed happened. The incredible scene captured the attention of the villagers who stood dumbfounded unable to fathom the miraculous reality. 

"Your father had performed his duties with utmost sincerity. On the contrary, you not only disregarded me but also tortured the villagers. I am the protector of this village and I must eliminate the termites and pests that threaten to set this village ablaze. You are an incarnation of a demon who killed your father and brother so that you could rule this village," the tone of the deity filled him with fear but he pretended to be brave.

The village folks closed their mouths with their hands utterly astounded by the bitter reality. They never had even an inkling that Anubhav had a hand in his father's murder. On the pretext of showing them a sacred idol hitherto never seen before, he had taken them to a secluded spot where he barbarically stabbed them from behind to ensure they never come as an impediment between him and the coveted power.

"You killed them in a barbaric manner not realizing the consequences of your act. You are accountable for your mother's suicide. Now, you think nobody will stop you. You have dampened the spirits of the villagers who harboured copious respect for your family. You are indeed an anomaly in the revered family of Raghavendra. There is no forgiveness for the sins you have committed. Your next life will be very painful and will be filled with miseries and that is inevitable. This is the law of karma and you are not an exception to this."

"Monks must act like monks. What is this impertinence? I am the village head," he tried to raise his sword but magically it jumped into the hands of the deity which caught him off guard. He had spelled doom for himself and the time finally emerged to put a final nail in his coffin.

The monk possessed by the deity slashed the head of Anubhav and the blood smeared all over his head as if he was anointed with vermilion. The dumbstruck villagers stood motionless with folded hands and widened eyes. Soon the monk came back to his senses and the villagers compelled him to be the village head. Rituals to the deity continued to materialize. The peace and prosperity became ubiquitous in the village thereafter underscoring the significance of the deity worship in the village. Nobody dared to recreate the misdeeds of Anubhav thereby restoring the sanctity of the place.