Tamarai - Part IX: The Discovery of Two Hidden Sons

• One day a shadow crosses the floor of the little hut where Tamarai and her family are staying. They know from the shape of the head that this is a sign that their own goddess has come to see them.
  

• It is a surprise! The goddess has brought the couple their two sons. Tamarai and Kunnutaiya can hardly believe their eyes!
  

• Tamarai gives the two boys a huge hug. She is overjoyed!
  

• Now that Tamarai and Kunnutaiya have sons they know that they can return to their palace. But they find it in a bad state of disrepair.
  

• Before anything else, the two boys are introduced to a new little pup, a surprise daughter of the couple’s former palace dog.
  

• Soon the two young boys are given a naming ceremony. Lord Vishnu himself comes to the temple to pronounce their names. They will be known as Ponnar and Shankar.
  

• Now the family travel everywhere with all three children. They use the family palanquin.
  

• They all bathe in the river together, especially when the weather is hot.
  

• Soon the two boys ask about the palace animals. Tamarai tells them where to go and look. She asks them to take their own private helpmate, named Shambuga, with them.
  

• The boys grow up fast. Tamarai begs them to agree to get married. She has two sisters (two nieces of hers) picked out for them already!
  

• The two boys reluctantly agree but they do not really want to marry. Tamarai begins the preparations anyway. Here she is picking out the cloth needed to make new wedding clothes for everyone.
  

• There are many more wedding preparations to come, like planning for decorations and gathering fresh flowers.
  

• Tamarai also “wakes up” the two brides she has picked out for her sons. She had earlier turned them into stone statues for safe keeping, while they waited for this big day.
  

• Now the wedding rituals begin. Tamarai and her husband bless their younger son, Shankar, who is the more reluctant of the two young bridegrooms.
  

• Each brother ties the wedding necklace around his own bride’s neck. A curtain separates each girl from her groom, to ensure their symbolic pre-marriage purity.
  

• The two parents look on proudly. Their sons are married at last! This was a big responsibility. This parental duty is now off their chests.

[Continue to Part 10==>]

[<==Back to Part 8]