- The twin kings of Ponnivala are now dead. Like true heroes,
they have left his world of their own will, leaping skyward to make
a brave fall onto the sharp tips of their own swords.
- Their sister soon discovers the tray of signs her brothers
left behind. Each marker has wilted, dried, rotted or broken in
half. She knows these two fine men are no more.
- Tangal begins a brave search to find her siblings. Letting
her hair down she wanders in the forest alone, as if possessed. If
in her right mind, she would never dare to enter this wild place by
herself, an unknown space where many dangers lurk. But she is
oblivious to all that. She must find her brothers’ dying place.
- After a very long time, and with help from the king of the
cobras, Tangal finds a Sun Maiden sitting on a pillar deep in the
forest.
- Tangal brings her a tier of freshly made earthen pots and
asks her to fill them with substances that will help bring her
brothers back from death.
- The Sun Maiden, after much meditation, has obtained special
powers. She is like a lightning rod that can conduct cosmic energy
downward from the heavens, in this case that flow utilizes her own
body. She uses these powers to fill Tangal’s pots with various
special liquids, plus certain magically endowed fruits and grains.
- Then this same yogini then offers Tangal her golden goose.
She tells it to carry the young maiden over the mountain tops and
the deep jungle to the heroes’ dying ground. The goose knows
where her guest’s brothers’ bodies lie.
- When Tangal reaches the sacred spot she sets out her seven
pots and begins the ritual steps needed to resurrect them.
- Soon both brothers, and also their loyal assistant Shambuga,
have sprung back to life. They are surprised and very happy to find
their sister talking to them.
- Half crying, Tangal begs her brothers to come back to the
family palace. She wants them to start over again and rebuild their
fine Ponnivala kingdom. But the conversation does not last long.
The two men say it is time to depart. Tangal has no choice in the
matter.
- So the sad and grieving sister calls on Lord Vishnu, asking
him to create two simple carrying biers, one for her two brothers’
bodies and a second for their loyal First Minister. Vishnu also
creates a group of pall bearers assigned to carry this sad, somewhat
magical burden to the nearest town.
- But before the funeral party is ready to start their journey,
Yeman (the Lord of Death) appears. He prepares to take the spirits
of the three dead men, which Tangal just recently coaxed back to
their bodies for a few minutes. Yeman will fly the life force of
all three men back to Lord Shiva’s Council Chambers in his own
little box.
- Now the procession starts with the two heroes in the lead and
their loyal assistant Shambuga carried on his own bier, just a few
feet behind them.
- The two royal horses, Ponnar and Shankar’s magical blue
steeds, run down the winding mountain path too. They follow the
solemn procession at a respectful distance.
- Soon the village of Virappur comes into view. Here is where
the heroes will have their permanent shrines erected in preparation
for a yearly festival that will honor their names.
- Tangal sees the bodies of her two bodies on their simple
carrying frame. Wanting to give them more respect, she prays to
Lord Vishnu for help in decorating their humble stretcher.
- With the blue horses watching, flowers and a lovely golden
canopy decked with flowers appears and provides shade for the two
royal bodies.
- There is nothing to embarrass the family now. The bier is
soon beautifully decorated.
- Vishnu’s magical pall bearers carry the two bodies around
the town for their last rite of homage. Everyone in the locale pays
their last respects.
- And now something surprising happens! Tangal’s prayers
cause the bodies of her brothers to rise up. Their assistant
Shambuga has already been assigned his side-shrine.
- Two beautiful statues appears, each protected by its own
domed enclosure.
- The two horses are turned into stone statues too. They stand
facing Shambuga together, side-by-side, choosing a posture that
indicates their enduring loyalty and respect.
- Tangal, meanwhile, has laid out all of her 18 ritual
offerings. Her worship at the shrines dedicated to her twin
brothers begins.
- Tangal herself is the priest who conducts this first worship
ritual at the shrine. Tangal rings the bell herself, a duty usually
left to some non-family member, a local male priest.
- This is how the shrine center dedicated
to the twins heroes of Ponnivala came to be. Long may their story
be told and long may it be remembered. The annual festival
established by Tangal is thriving today and is reported to be
growing in popularity and in grandeur, every year!
[<==Back to Part 14]
- The twin heroes of Ponnivala have just completed their fight
with the Vettuva hunters who live in the forested hills that
surround their fertile farmland. They believe they have won as they
have seen many Vettuvas lying dead all around them. They also
believe that they have followed Lord Vishnu’s command to “just
fight a few minutes longer.” All is now still. They are ready to
wash their swords and to bathe in the small stream that flows
nearby.
- But suddenly they hear a rustling sound. They don’t see
Lord Vishnu perched on a tree branch above them. Thinking the sound
means nothing they enter the water and begin to wash.
- Each brother scrubs his sword thoroughly, making sure that
all the dried blood is washed off. They also scrub their bodies
clean of all the sweat and filth of battle.
- What they do not see is Lord Vishnu who has just prepared an
arrow made of jasmine flowers. He has also conjured up a bow made
of a sugarcane stalk. He now pulls back the bow string and aims his
shot.
- As the arrow flies it seeks out Shankar and takes as its
target, the little white string he wears on his chest. That is
Shankar’s protective thread and a marker of his warrior status.
Without it he is returned to his much more humble and vulnerable
previous status, as one of Ponnivala’s twin farmer-kings.
- Shankar reacts quickly. He understands the symbolism of what
has just happened. Now he turns to his brother and says: “An
arrow just took my protective thread away. This is a sign that it
is now time for us to give up our own lives. We shall do so
honorably, right here beside this flowing river.” Ponnar nods in
agreement. His brother knows best.
- The two men now march up on the bank and head for the ridge
above this small river valley.
- Once there Shankar quickly notices his thread has been left
on the branch of a bush by the arrow that stole it from him.
- Shankar shows the thread to Ponnar and says, “This is a
sign that Lord Vishnu sent us. Our lives are now complete. I am
ready to die.”
- With that said, Shankar walks quickly past his elder brother.
He does not give him any time to protest this fateful decision.
- Next Shankar throws his sword with a hard and skillful
thrust. The weapon flies up and come back to earth heel first,
landing solidly in the soft soil with its blade pointing upwards.
- Next Shankar takes a sudden and flying leap into the air. It is
as if he has just jumped on to the sun chariot itself and is starting
to fly towards that golden disc that travels high in the sky above.
- But then Shankar falls downward with a soft thud, such that
his sword pieces his chest and enters his own heart! The great
warrior-farmer is no more. His life has left him and his body will
soon lie limp.
- Seeing this sacrificial act, Shankar is both shocked and
amazed. He knows now what he must do.
- With a short prayer Ponnar soon lifts his own sword high.
- It rises in the air and falls next to Shankar in perfect
alignment with its twin. Its’ heel, too, is now embedded solidly
in the soft earth.
- Ponnar then takes a similar sudden leap forward, just as his
brother did a few minutes earlier. He, too, seems to leap onto that
chariot that is heading towards the sun.
- And then Ponnar too, lands back on earth. His body goes limp
as well, with his sword neatly passing through his own heart. The
two bodies lie in perfect alignment. They remain twins in death
just as they have been matched as twins since their birth within
minutes of each other, just sixteen years ago! Sixteen years of
life is what Lord Shiva decreed and Lord Vishnu agreed to long ago
at the time that Shiva arranged for their mother’s immaculate
impregnation with the spirit lives of Arjuna and Bhima, the famous
Mahabharata heroes who have lived again through their earthly
bodies. This all happened in Kailasa, in Lord Shiva’s own Famous
Council Chamber high above.
- Soon Shambuga, the loyal assistant, finds his masters’ two
bodies. He knows it is his duty to depart from this world with them.
Taking a branch from a sacred Suma tree growing nearby, Shambuga
throws it with great skill, aiming it so well that it falls and
embeds its base in the ground while leaving its sharp, sharp tip
pointing skyward. His body soon lies just a short distance from
those of the two Ponnivala rulers.
- As soon as Shambuga’s body goes limp Lord Vishnu appears on
this special dying ground. He now opens his little golden box and
calls the spirits of all three men to enter it. The three spirit
lives fly oup from the prone bodies and directly toward the god’s
open container.
- When all three spirits have entered this carrying vessel Lord
Vishnu snaps the lip closed using just one thumb.
- Then Vishnu quickly departs, leaving gracefully for the skies
above with his precious cargo.
- Lord Vishnu has a long way to fly. He passes through many
clouds. Finally he sees an opening and the floor of that famed
Council Chamber, a space belonging to the great Shiva himself,
begins to appear.
- Vishnu soon becomes visible on the floor of Mount Kailasa’s
great icy chamber. Both Lord Shiva and his loyal accountant are
there to great him.
- Vishnu pulls out the little golden box
and shows it to his famed brother-in-law, the Lord of the universe
itself. Vishnu also reminds Shiva of the key bargain he made with
him sixteen years ago. At that time Vishnu had handed Shiva his
beloved conch shell. Now, in exchange for the spirit lives of
Ponnivala’s two great heroes… it is time for Lord Shiva to give
him his conch shell back!
[<==Back to Part 13]
