After days of walking, Kunnutaiya finally spots the two
temples he remembers from childhood.
Kunnutaiya and Tamarai’s first task is to visit the goddess
attached to the family lands. The couple commit to cleaning
Celatta’s temple and worshiping her daily.
Next Kunnutaiya and Tamarai build a modest home and begin to
settle down on his ancestral lands.
Kunnutaiya next begins to plow the one field his clansmen are
willing to let him have. They try to keep the rest for themselves.
But when Kunnutaiya goes to get seeds, his clansmen trick him
by secretly roasting them first. But his wife figures this out.
Kunnutaiya tries to plant the seeds anyway, in his one rocky,
thorn-filled field.
Fortunately Lord Vishnu sees the problem and uses his magical
powers to help the seeds sprout.
Later, after still more tricks played by the clansmen, the
couple finally discover that their crop has ripened.
But Kunnutaiya thinks there is something wrong. He can not
find any harvest-ready grain.
It is only when Tamarai investigates that she finds not maize
but jewels in each plump corn cob.
The couple harvest their jewels in private, fearing their
jealous clansmen might intervene.
But then Lord Vishnu tests the couple’s generosity, sending
a thousand beggars to their doorstep. Only Tamarai is willing to
give away all their new wealth as alms.
Fortunately, Vishnu is pleased with Tamarai’s compassion
and refills the harvest baskets in secret.
Kunnutaiya then takes a small gift to the Chola king. He
politely informs him of the bountiful harvest just reaped on his
lands in Ponnivala.
The couple build a palace with their new wealth. Soon the
Chola king pays a visit and rewards Kunnutaiya with gifts and a
small crown.
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