Sahithi's Adventures

A Curious Artefact

Both girls went down for breakfast and found the table laid for two.

“What’s for breakfast?” Neelu asked the maid who was waiting at the table.

“Idly and masala dosa, miss.” She replied. Sahithi’s mouth watered at the mention of her favourite breakfast. She happily savoured the taste of the soft, idly eating it with groundnut chutney, podi and ghee.

“Lovely!” she said, putting a smile on the maid’s face.

“Have some more, miss.” She served two more idlies this time with sambar. Sahithi dipped a piece of idly in the sambar, putting the morsel in her mouth, enjoying the sweetish hot flavour. This was heaven for a foodie like her.

“Are you coming with me or will you spend the rest of the day tasting the food made by our cook?” Neelu teased her.

“Where are we going?”

“To our special place!” Neelu said in a conspiratorial way. “You need to see this place.”

“Okay.” Sahithi finished eating and washing her hands in the finger-bowl. Both friends then left the house, entering a small path that led to a mangrove behind the house.

“Where does this lead to?”

“You will know soon Sahi, have patience.” Neelu said as she led the way deeper into the trees. Sahithi felt she would never be able to find her way if she were left alone. The path was like a snake when finally the duo stopped in front of a seemingly impenetrable bush.

“Are you sure we are on the right path?” Sahithi asked, nervously looking behind her shoulder. She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“I am not a ghost, silly! We use this route for our safety. Just wait.” Neelu said, stepping forward to the wall of bushes. She knelt down and placed her hand on the ground, moving it three times clockwise and three times anti-clockwise. The bushes parted to reveal an underground passage that was illuminated by wall-mounted torches.

“This is our secret temple that only the family is supposed to use. You are the first non-family member to come here.” She took Sahithi’s hand and pulled her down the steps. “You are now family!”

Sahithi noticed the door closed automatically as soon as they stepped in. The passage led to a huge hall that seemed to be dedicated to some goddess.

“Our patron deity!” Neelu folded her palms in prayer. Sahithi too mimicked her friend. She opened her eyes to see her friend was now meditating deeply. Since Sahithi was not into meditation or yoga, she started exploring the temple.

The walls and pillars were an architectural marvel with beautiful scenes carved from stone. The themes were vast and there seemed to be everything that one could ask for. Every aspect of human life and beyond was carved by sculptors who seemed to breathe life into their creation.

As Sahithi passed by the sculptures depicting war, she noticed that the theme had abruptly changed. The figurines here start with beautiful damsels dancing, singing, playing various musical instruments etc. The next theme made her blush deeply.

Here, the sculptures depicted lovemaking between a man and a woman which, though a bit embarrassing, didn’t feel out of place. In fact, it seemed to say that the union of a wife and husband was divine and one of the ways of attaining salvation or moksha.

She remembered her grandmother’s words on this topic when they were preparing her elder sister for her Shobhanam – an after-marriage ritual that would ensure the union of two souls who had been united by the heavenly bond of marriage.

“You are entering grihasthashrama. You will lead the next phase of your life with your husband. During this journey you will experience a lot of things that you have not seen or heard of till now. Mating with your husband is part of that new life. It is your duty to give pleasure and seek pleasure from your husband. How you do it is up to you. Did you see what I told you to see yesterday in the temple?”

Her sister had blushed a deep shade of tomato at these words. “Bammaa.....” she stammered, surprising her.

“Did you or did you not?”

“How could I not see with you breathing down my neck? You are so ....”

“Shameless! Our temples have provided the right kind of knowledge for everyone through the sculptures carved on the gopuram. That is the purpose of those sculptures – to provide education to those who need it. What you saw today will help you tonight and also after that.”

Sahithi realised what her grandmother was referring to as she stared at the wall. There were several figurines depicting the union of a wife and husband. There were so many angles and positions of love making that she couldn’t help blushing deeply. Nothing was left to the imagination, as both male and female reproductive organs were carved with minute detail. It was as if real men and women had been cursed to become stone figures.

“At least they could have left that!” she thought as she looked at the entrance between the legs of a woman that opened the path to heavenly bliss. Even the tool that a man used to give so much pleasure to a woman was depicted vividly.

She looked around to see if anyone had noticed her staring at the erotic sculptures. There was none. She sighed in relief and moved from there, afraid of the strange heat in her body. She averted her gaze as she walked, trying to calm her nerves that were refusing to listen to her.

As she turned round the pillar, she noticed a small bag lying on the floor. She bent down to pick it up. It was a normal cloth bag that had been tied with a string. She looked around to find no one in sight. She was in a dilemma.

Should she open it or not? Was it right to open something that she had no idea what it contained? What if there was a snake inside? Why would anyone leave a bag with a snake in a temple? She waited for a few minutes trying to decide what to do.

“This Neelu will not open her eyes till another hour.” She said to herself. “And this bag seems to beg me to open it. I will die with curiosity if I keep staring at it like this.” She looked around again and, noticing that there was no one, she untied the string with a thumping heart.