Transient Spy

13th Century AD

King’s Palace at Koodal Managaram

Pandya King Sundaravarman was tossing about in his bed sleepless. It wasn’t because his queen was snoring quite loudly. They have been married for some twenty years and he got used to the snore. Ever since he heard about the news of invasion by the powerful Chola Kind Kulothungan he had lost his sleep. After a while he went to the small temple within the palace premises to pray to the Lord Murugan, warrior Tamil God for peace of mind. He prostrated before the Lord and prayed. His tiredness soon caught up with him and he slept there itself. In the morning he heard the call of the birds and he woke up he got an idea.

A cursory reading of Tamil history would reveal that what is known as the present state of Tamilnadu was ruled by the three dynasties namely Cholas, Pandyas and Cheras and later on Pallavas. They were constantly fighting among themselves in the name of expansion of their kingdoms and personal glory. Cholas were better at that and to some extent Pallavas. Pandyas had their glory during Sangam age and they were on a decline and at the mercy of Cholas usually. Sundaravarman feared that his rule would be decimated by the Chola Kulothungan.

He walked towards his brother’s palace abetting his own. His brother Rajasekharan was a drunkard and hardly interested in politics and war. All he needed was wine and woman to spend his days and nights. But Sundaravarman knew his brother was a brilliant strategists and problem solves when he was sober. Sundaravarman wanted to catch his brother in the morning when he would be relatively sober. If he could convince him of the imminent threat to the kingdom and eventually to his own life style Rajasekharan might do something.

As good fortune goes Sundaravarman found his brother already up and in a sober mode. In fact, he was surprised to see him parring with a sword with a soldier. As soon Rajasekharan saw his brother he waved the soldier off. He immediately knew something was amiss.

As soon as he was apprised by the emerging situation Rajasekharan knew that this was real threat. Pandya kingdom would be decimated and along with it his own life style. He didn’t want to be behind bars or beheaded in the battle. He assured him that he would think about it and get back in the next twenty-four hours. As soon as the King left, he ordered his soldier to get ready for the jungle hunt, just the soldier and himself. Hunting always gave Rajasekharan a high. With adrenaline cruising in his body his mind would function at his best. They found a wild bore to chase and chased they did for nearly an hour as the wild bore was being crafty. Finally, they caught up with it and Rajasekharan took a good aim with his bow and arrow and shot it successfully. His high feeling peaked and that was when an idea came to Rajasekharan’s mind.

When the king approved of his plan Rajasekharan recruited a band of thirty young men and women who swore secrecy and loyalty to the kingdom and engaged in training them for over sixty days in basic defence, spying techniques and ability to merge with the surroundings like a chameleon. Some of the recruits were already soldiers and they were given a specific assignment suited to their abilities. He himself grew a beard and looked like a Siddhar. Siddhars were reputed to undergo spiritual practice, ability to deal with variety of herbs and medicinal plants and have the uncanny ability to predict future. That is what people believed. Rajasekharan had the ability to deal with chemicals and produce flames and smoke like a magician with a sleight of hand. This ability came handy in time to come. As per plan Siddhar (aka Rajasekharan) crossed the border into the chola territory. He wore some dirty dhoti like clothe that covered his lower body and carried two bundles of stuff attached to two ends of a bamboo pole. He and his body guard alone knew hidden inside the bamboo pole was a deadly sword. Some of his band of men and women were to follow him discretely and were under the guise of traders and pilgrims. He left a trail for them to note and follow.

As expected, a border patrol of Chola soldiers confronted him. He produced some instant flame with the sleight of hand and told the leader of the patrol “thambi (brother), instead of confronting a poor mendicant why can’t you go with your soldiers to the Amman temple at the foot hill. Some surprise awaits you.” Taken aback the leader replied that he will do so but he asked the Siddhar to await him at the rest house in the village and asked a guard to accompany him.

A surprise attack awaited the chola patrol at the said place mentioned by the Siddhar. Of course, it was meant to be a fake attack to add credibility to Siddhar’s prediction and nothing more. The leader was quite impressed both by the swift victory in driving off the assailants and by the prediction. Later in the night when he met the Siddhar he offered his respects and requested him for some more guidance. Siddhar obliged him as this was also part of an elaborate plan. By the end of that week the leader was convinced that the Siddha had magical abilities to forecast about future. He sent word to the king about him and soon received a reply to bring the Siddhar along for an audience.

Siddhar accompanied by the leader of the patrol himself galloped away to meet the king discretely followed by his band. Rajasekharan sent word to his king that phase-1 of the plan had been a success.

When he met the Chola king, Siddhar praised the chola dynasty and said that he and his forefathers are deeply indebted to the Chola Kingdom for keeping alive the tradition of the siddhas. However, Siddhar said that bad times are forecasted for the Kingdom. There would be frequent attacks on people, animals both in the border towns and other important places in the kingdom. Siddhar’s prediction came true in the next few weeks and the King was impressed by this foresight although he was concerned too as his rule seemed to be helpless against this onslaught. He invited Siddhar to be one among his counsels. Once again when the Kulothungan met with the Siddhar he asked who are these people that are doing this?

Siddhar said that he could not say off the cuff. That would require some deeper prayers and rituals. The king said he would arrange for whatever the Siddhar wanted. Accordingly, the Siddhar was to stay at a refurbished rest house in the jungle itself. Jungles

 evokes the raw spirit as the Siddhar told the king. Necessary supplies were arranged to facilitate pujas and rituals which included flowers, incense and sacrificial animals. Siddhar also told the king that the Kuruva queen whom he had kept as mistress should also be there for one of the rituals. King was surprised by the mention of Vallli the Kuruva women whom he kept as mistress. He carried a guilt in his conscious for the ruthless he had killed many members of her family and clan. He wondered if the rash of attacks that are being carried out in his kingdom has something to do with the Kuruvas.

Siddhar knew that many years ago that Kulothungan and his army had destroyed the Kuruva clan but he was ensnared by the beauty of the daughter of the Kuruva clan chief he had kidnapped her and kept her under his custody. He also knew that she had given birth to a boy who was in his twenties now. His plan was to use the queen and her boy for his mission. As if he could read the King’s mind Siddhar said these tribes have supernatural powers. The recent attacks could be linked to them. Their presence at the time of rituals would reveal something.

A date got fixed for ritual. Siddhar had planned for this event carefully. Discretely he sent out words to his band. They knew what they had to do. Siddhar produced some magic during the ritual. Colourful flames came forth followed by explosions in the distant forest. Some voices from the skies were heard. Siddhar was in a trance and his body was shaking forth as if in fits. He fell down unconscious during the ritual. When he woke up the King said the voices from the sky rambled about marriage and recognition. What did that all mean?

Siddhar said he himself could not interpret the voice of the spirits. He added while he had the ability to invite the spirits what they say was beyond him. The fact he had the fits means it confirms that there is a link to queen Valli and her son to the attacks in the kingdom. One way to appease the spirits is to marry Valli and accept their son into the royalty. Such fits occur rarely and associated with predictions that are far reaching and he would lose his conscious as he did the night before. The King who took fright in the previous night accepted his suggestion and at an auspicious day he tied the marriage knot to Valli and pronounced their son Velan as royalty.

 Both Valli and Velan felt indebted to Siddhar and visited him on and off. Siddhar could sense that though Valli was happy with the marriage to the King, she hadn’t forgotten her past. She did confess to him as well and went on to ask about the links to her clan and how could she re-establish contacts with them. Siddhar said that only the spirits could tell and they decided to perform another ritual. Siddhar advised her and Velan to come alone. Once again Siddhar had planned the ritual well. His mission was going on well.

Ritual followed the last pattern and he fell unconscious after a bout of fit. Voices were heard talking of war and of death. The voices asked for sacrifice of one to save another. Siddhar said it could mean that in the forthcoming war Velan would die and the war has to be prevented. Valli asked Siddhar for a plan to prevent war and she would do anything to save her only son and the last of her clan.

In the meantime, war clouds came up on the horizon and as per custom the Chola King pronounced his successor the first Prince Kesari. War means death and there is no guarantee that Kulothungan would come back alive. Kulothungan had noticed that after his marriage with Valli the attacks had reduced considerably and his esteem for Siddhar went up. During one of his visits with Valli Siddhar gave a bundle of herbs to Valli and advised her to prepare a decoction for the king to imbibe daily hence forth. But he cautioned that it should be done in total secrecy and no one should know it. This was the plan he had suggested to Valli and in a month or two the King would start having delusions as the poison in the herb would affect the mind and the royalty doctor would have no clue about this condition.

The plan worked and as the King became more delusional the crown Prince Kesari was asked to assume the Kingship by the counsel. Siddhar knew that as per the custom Prince Kesari would need to take a dip in the river Ponni at a specified location which was kept as secret. That is where he planned the ambush. He told Velan about his plan and said this was his only chance to avoid the war and assume the crown for himself. Valli endorsed the plan. Siddhar tipped off his spies too and they contacted Valli and Velan claiming to be part of their clan. On the said date Kesari and his entourage were taken by surprise by the band of assailants as the venue for the ritual bathing was a highly kept secret and they never expected an attack. Kesari and all his men were ambushed including the priest. Some of Siddhar’s band too died. That was collateral expected.

Velan declared himself crown prince and set date for the ceremony the very next day. He sent a messenger to invite Siddhar for the ceremony as both he and his mother vowed him big. The messenger came back with the news that the rest house got burned down and he found a woman bawling incoherently at the site. The gist of what the women rambled was that a sudden fire broke out during the puja and consumed the rest house. As far as Siddhar was concerned he became possessed with spirits and ran towards the cliff shouting and screaming. The women kept behind him and the last thing she saw was Siddhar jumping off the cliff.

PS

A week later when Sunderavarman got news of his brother’s return he went up to his palace to personally thank him. As he was about to step into his brother’s chamber, he heard peel of laughter and drunken voices. He knew his brother had returned to his old ways. He took a bow and left the palace.