Chapter Thirty-Six
Have you seen that confounding one, darkest of clouds
his heart black as his body—we cannot grasp this mystery.
Yes we saw him, encircled by friends in the woods of Vrindavan
a vast midnight sky bright with galaxies of stars
Nacciyar Tirumoli 14:7
Sirimai raised an eyebrow at the commotion billowing outside the pavilion.
‘A mix of the pious and curious,’ she muttered, thinking nobody was listening, but Andal, so heightened were her senses, heard everything—the mahouts’ sticks thudding against the thick hides of their elephants, and as the beasts stamped their feet, a thousand tinkling bells raining into the noise of the crowd shuffling and elbowing for a view. Andal wanted to run. Run through the temple streets and seven towers to the golden dome and dark cave whe
