Lakshmi

Chapter 5 Procession

Karuppiah met the monks at Thulaiyanoor hills. The hills was a group of hills at one single place. Hence it was called as the  hills or hill. It was located closer to Thirumayam fort, at four peacock miles. It was very close to the kings' highway from the Thirumayam fort to Sivaganga, the sub-headquarters of the king.

Thulaiyanoor hills had a place for the monks,  run by the Buddhists for centuries, from the period of Chola kings. It began with two bichus or monks, who arrived at Thulaiyanoor, at the time while they were persecuted by the vedic priests of Trichirappalli. The monks hid themselves from the pruning eyes of the knowledge of the vedic priests by living a life of seclusion eating leaves and wild fruits. Then after their death, hills were empty until new monks had  arrived at the rule of the Nayak kings at Madurai. Hamlet people secured the monk's secrecy intact,  not revealing to any one the whereabouts of the monks.

 The Thulaiyanoor hills was found once again with a rich- densed forest at its foothills, and was rich with  animals of small forests, like rabbits, fox and  various kinds of reptiles. It had thistles and bushes around it, with numerous trees.  Monks located few hamlets around the hills, and made friendship with them  They saw at the foot of the hills, a vast grass area on which cows, bullocks and goats of the hamlets would graze, having tended by the shepherds of the hamlets.

 There was a water pool. Nature had  carved it. It was adjacent to the granite foot hills, and the cattle saw it as a haven.  Monks out of labour created another small water pond uphill to their drinking purpose. They made steps on the  steep slope, to climb  up to fetch water.

Monks thought it would be better to educate the hamlets surrounding the hills, as education empowers people. They periodically visited these hamlets for their food by  begging as per their norms. They would bring all the collected food and present them on the holy altar of Buddha. They then would share from the common food kept on the altar. They never ate in the morning nor in the evening. But there was one time food. That too from  begging. Often they would spend their days in fasting and in penance. Occasionally they would eat wild fruits. They knew each wild fruit had their medicinal value. 

The two monks sought the help of the grandfather of Karuppiah, an young lad at that time,  to start the learning, as he showed interest in the learning of Tamil. It took several weeks for the monks  to clear a four acre thistles and thorns, with the help of Karuppiah's grandfather. They made a small one man path to touch  the cart path that ran towards Thirumayam fort, first touching the kings high way, and then turning left towards Thirumayam.

The grandfather of Karuppiah mobilized few young men to come to the monks. Thus began a tiny school. Monks were  more learned persons,  and they had thousands of palm leaves writings of Tamil poems. Grandfather of Karuppiah showed more aspirations in the learning. But when the king began the construction of the fort, he had to forego his studies, and settle at the fort to care the horses of the king. Once in a month, on the full moon days, the grandfather was allowed to go to Lakshmipuram to see  his only daughter.

Grandfather did not stop his reading at the fort. He knew the soldiers would hate his learnings. He ensured all his palm leaves hid under his floor carpet, in his small room built near the fort's southern wall facing the Perumal temple. While the soldiers had  slept out of deep boozing, he ensured resuming his readings. He had a small brass oil lamp having presented to him by the king, on appreciations of the tending of the horses of kings. One time, the king was so pleased with his work on tending horses, and he gave a sizable land to the hamlet community of Lakshmipuram for tilling and earning food. Slowly the king got attracted to the learnings of Karuppiah's grandfather and made him his deepest friend

Karuppiah recalled the learning of his grandfather. Now he had come to meet the monks to say farewell to them, and then he had to proceed  to Thirumayam to take over the assignment that his grandfather had left.

He bowed before the two monks. The aged monks were delighted to see him coming from Lakshmipuram. They knew Karuppiah did some leanings under them in the disguise of a shepherd. They recalled that Karuppiah was used to spend two or three days together with his cattle in the pursuit of learning Tamil from them. Karuppiah after the cattle had finished their grazing at day time, he would usher them into the thick leaved acacia grove,  for rest and for water. Cattle having understood the reasons behind Karuppiah's intentions, had never troubled him. Karuppiah then quietly would sneak into the house of the monks, to listening to them.

Karuppiah thus had developed a thick bond with the monks. He  learnt Tamil, as well the way to interpret the Tamil poems, and of course the skills of horse riding by their recommendation.   Currently the two days of further learning with monks went away very swiftly as a dove flies.

On the third day, when he was about to leave for  Thirumayam, the monks gave him a small bundle containing a set of palm leaves of Tamil writings, requesting him to deliver the bundle at Madarasapattinam at the hands of one Siddah medicine man by name Kathavaraya pandithar. 

The monks  instructed Karuppiah to deliver it through the British soldiers, in case if they would visit the fort. Karuppiah could not resist the request. However he was perplexed at the fantasy of him talking with the British soldiers in their alien language. Yet he obliged himself to the monks. Karuppiah did not know  what he was carrying were the palm leaves of Thirukkural, the ethical poem of the Tamils. He also knew that the brass box of his grandfather,  inside his head load, also contains the four line poems written by the Jain monks. 

During all the  three days above mentioned, the kitten was efficiently and diligently following Karuppiah. It first  saw the tearful departure of Karuppiah from his hut; then the weeping of the mother, sister and Sarasu; then the  blessings from the priest and the elders, and it understood the pain in the hearts of the lotus and the cat fishes. 

As Karuppiah set out his  journey by the afternoon  from the Thulaiyanoor hills, he had nothing to eat excepting few jamun fruits that the monks had pleasingly offered  him. About the time of the appearing darkness, he did arrive at the east gate of the fort. Gate keepers enquired of him, and allowed him to enter the fort area, while one of the soldier was assigned to escort him to the place where his grandfather had stayed inside the fort. 

Karuppiah saw the small room of his grandfather, and the spread out carpet. There was a small cloth bundle kept on the corner of that room, consisting of grandfather's old cloths. There stood several mud pots which were kept over the bricks adjacent to a side wall. One large window had faced the north. A small wooden door. And another bundle of horse related items, as it appeared so. Two mud cups. Karuppiah still needed to explore the great assets of his grandfather.

It was uncleaned for days. Yet he could perspire the smell of his grandfather. The soldier accompanied,  gave him a parcel containing two ragi porridge in cake form, and instructed Karuppiah to fetch drinking water from the adjacent pond. 

He also told Karuppiah to use the small toilette for washing. He  warned him not to walk to the Perumal temple nearby, and that too to never watch the puja to the deity at the dawn. The soldier instructed him to join the main dormitory area of the soldiers for his early meals, the next day.

Karuppiah had to yet to know the fort.  Excepting his imagination on the great stone walls extending south and east from afar, he wanted a full inspection of the fort. Who then would tour him around the fort, unless he himself would explore? He was aware that he would be taken early in the morning to the horse shed, immediately after the puja at the temple. How many temples are  there? Who lives inside the fort? Who comes inside and who goes outside, and through the fort gates? Questions arose in  him, for which he had no answers currently. Let the dawn begin. He thought of the whole day events. His meeting with the monks. Their farewell. Their requests. His tedious walk. Entry into the fort. Guidance by the soldier into the room of his grandfather. Now the food parcel. 

He gathered two smaller mud pots. He walked towards the pond. A rat was running ahead of him towards the pond. Suddenly it changed its direction and plunged itself into a thick bush located on the sides of the path, and vanished. Karuppiah thought of rats. He wished the assets of his grandfather should not have been touched by the rat. Sleep overtook him.

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Dawn was fast approaching. His ears responded to a nice music of Nadhaswaram, the  wind instrument of south India, being accompanied by a double Thavil drum beating.  Nadhaswaram was  lengthy in size, but more in the width size than a flute. Karuppiah was aware of the double reed inside that of the instrument. It was played by pumping breath into the hole through a banana fibre slit. Music notes change as per the slits. 

His ears was now listening to the growing and approaching music. He tied up his waist dhoti. Put on his shirt. He slowly walked towards the place,  in slow pace, from  where the music had come. Besides the music, his nostrils smelled the fragrance of fresh flowers, marigold primarily and of course jasmine.

He saw the statue of some deity, well adorned with flowers,  being carried by four middle aged men, on their shoulders. Two persons were showing fire torch light  on the statue. Three men were on the music walking ahead of the deity, one playing the Nadhaswaram and other two on the Thavil drums. Yet another man was making a rhythmic sound by clanging a tiny cymbal.

He saw the procession of men and women, about another ten, following the deity. He heard the tintinnabulations and the jingling of bells from within the temple, backed up by some slogans of mantras being chanted from the temple. While the procession was heading towards the temple, in the midst of the members of the procession, his eyes got locked at an young girl in her teens wearing an half saree over a silken peacock color petticoat with an adorned silver dotted blouse. 

Instinct reminded Karuppiah the current status of what he was doing now. His eyes left the girl now, and he recalled the command from the soldier, that he should not watch the temple events. He walked therefore back towards his place of stay in silence with a profoundly wonderous feeling of something, which he could not describe. But the girl saw him walking back.

The kitten watched all these from the cushion  seat where the deity was installed. It was comfortably seated, leaning on the silken  cushion. It smiled now towards the girl.