The Darkest Night!!

Darkest Night it was!

The nocturnal owls and the singing bees were brisk and energetic in the dim light of the moon. The eeriness of the place was rapidly increasing. In spite of being dim, the rays of the moon were caressing the water all around and she was gorgeous. On the shore, there was a very small bundle of light, could be called, which was moving into the river. Slow and steady was its movement making subtle bubbling sounds in the water. Taking a closer look, it was a bunch of fireflies being put inside a porous coconut shell and using the light coming out it, it was someone who was managing to walk into the river. The level of water wasn't that high, but taking a wider look at the place seemed to be like a massive ocean for him. Though Kavery was making the Cholacountry flourish & was considered to be one of the long flowing perennial rivers, the amalgamation of palaaru, seyaaru and vegavathi called as Thirumukoodal, the sangam of three rivers, seemed to be much more massive for him and he was mesmerized. He somehow managed to reach the other end of the river and was climbing up the shore.

On the shore, was a huge granite building, seeming to be pitch black for him in the dark. There were soldiers with their armors and swords standing on the walls of the building. They were looking strong and their shadows were bigger and stronger. He realized that the place was under very close monitoring. A little sound or a wrong move, there will be thousands of sharp arrows tearing his body into pieces! He took his steps very carefully. As he had walked a long way across the river, his legs were aching and he had to rest under a huge banyan tree on the shore. His body was drenched and so did his thick strands of wig. He was also wearing a bunch of rudraksha necklaces and a beautiful emerald Siva linga as he disguised himself to be a kaapalika. But he wasn't one.

He started to walk towards the building in the dark and as he got closer, he began to sense medicinal scents all over. He was also able to identify the smells of Vallarai 

Keerai,Tippali,Sundaiikai,amanakku out of something which was being prepared inside the building complex. The smell in fact was getting onto his head via his nostrils. He was puzzled " When I saw this building from the other shore of the river, this looked to be a temple complex. I knew that this Chola Country has a lot of Siva Temples all over. But why should a temple complex erupt smells of medicines? This is strange!!".

He was quite skeptical of his moves from then on but still continued to creep into the temple complex. His objective was that he knew his enemy would come there for sure in the morning and he was ready to take his life inside the same building this time without making mistakes. That would be the biggest loss this country would face. He was much determined this time.

With a very strong determination, he managed to jump into the temple complex and walked towards the sanctum, still hiding from the soldiers. He was clever indeed!

The place was so calm and poised. A sense of mental equilibrium one could acquire in this place.

There were cots placed in rows, neatly lined and there were men sleeping on it. Taking a closer look, he was confused because the men who were sleeping on it weren't looking like Shaivites ."Who are these people ? " kind of questions eating his mind, he finally managed to reach the entrance of the sanctum sanctorum whose doors were closed. All through his way, there was the smell of various types of medicines and the mixture of the scents made him dizzy and confused. He was almost fainting.

Assuming that there would be a huge Siva linga inside the Sanctum, he stumbled on the door and peeped into the Sanctorum through a very small hole. All he was able to see in the dark was an 8 feet tall sculpture's shadow which was standing huge in front of his dizzy eyes. Confused again !!

With lots of confusion about the place, people, and now the deity, he fainted completely and fell in front of the sanctum doors. He was none other than the Chalukya king, Someshwaran alias Aahavamallan who entered into the Chola country for revenge.

He wasn't aware, there were hundreds of Chola eyes behind him when he had entered the country...

To be continued in the next part...

PS: a very imaginative write up about a beautiful place...!