The
city of Pazhaiarai was in turmoil that day. People converged from every corner
of the city onto the street that housed all the royal palaces of Kings. Old men
and women, children, girls, boys and soldiers everyone was out on the streets
that day. Vaishanavaites, Shaivaites, Kalamugars forgot their inherent
differences and stood shoulder to shoulder outside the palace demanding to know
what happened to their dear prince.
Young
men with sticks and sickles stood together banging their weapons angrily while
many in the crowd urged them on saying, ‘You should bang the heads of Pazhuvur
brothers thus’.
The
royal palaces of Pazhaiarai were constructed in vast grounds to resemble the
arc of a moon’s crescent. The courtyard in the front was extended and large. A
large boundary wall screened the palaces from the public eyes. During festival
days, the gates of the wall would remain open for the public to enter and watch
the festivities and other days the gates remained shut. Today, however the
guards at these gates tried to contain the crowds but they were unstoppable and
they burst through the gates to come inside the palace courtyard. The throngs
of crowd that entered the palace kept increasing every minute and the palace
guards helplessly looked around trying to contain them. As the crowd kept
increasing, people started pushing others from the behind and it soon looked as
if a stampede was imminent. The cries of thousands of people filled the area
and it was this uproar that Dowager Queen Sembiyanmadevi heard while she was
speaking to her son Prince Madhuranthakan. The queen immediately bid the Prince
to stay inside and stepped outside her chambers into the balcony to see what
was happening.
The
queen’s placid peaceful face brought a semblance of order among the unruly
crowd below. They immediately stopped shouting and stood silently looking at
her face and then one of the people from the crowd asked her, “Mother! Where is
our Prince? What happened to Ponniyin Selvar? Where is our darling Arul Mozhi?”
Following this, many others asked the same question and the uproar began again.
Sembiyanmadevi
stood there dazed by their questions. She then knew that something untoward had
happened to Arul Mozhi. Her heart was filled with dread and fear and she
wondered whether the Pazhuvur brothers had a hand in it. If that were true then
they have doomed her and her son to disgrace and infamy.
The
royal messengers from Thanjavur now came forward with great difficulty and the
guards who came along with them said, “Mother! These messengers have come from
Thanjavur and they have brought very important news.”
Sembiyanmadevi
appealed to the crowd to keep quiet and asked the messengers, “What news do you
bring?”
“Mother!
We are the bearers of very unfortunate news. Prince Arul Mozhi Varmar was on
his way to Kodi Karai on the orders of Chakravarthy. His ship got stuck in the
cyclonic storm that raged in the sea. One of the ships that came along with it
broke into pieces due to the storm’s fury. The Prince jumped into the sea to
save someone on the other ship and went missing in the sea. Arrangements have
been made to search for the Prince all along the coast and in the sea. The
Emperor and the Empress are distressed beyond words and they wish that you,
Prince Madhuranthakan and Princess Kundavai come to Thanjavur immediately.”
Hearing
this Sembiyanmadevi’s eyes was filled with tears and they started flowing
copiously. Those who stood near the messengers cried out aloud and the crowd’s
uproar started yet again. Those who didn’t hear the messenger’s news were
distressed to see the old queen crying and knew that something catastrophic had
occurred.
Many
in the crowd started shouting then and one of them said, “Mother! You should
not go to Thanjavur and nor should Princess Kundavai. The Chakravarthy must
come here.”
Yet
another shouted, “This news is false. Ponniyin Selvar didn’t drown in the sea.
The Pazhuvur brothers have killed him in cold blood.”
“Prince
Madhuranthakar should not go back to Thanjavur. He should stay here.”
Few
others voices called out, “Where is Princess Kundavai? We wish to see her.”
Hearing
this, Sembiyanmadevi bid one of her handmaidens to inform the Princess
requesting her to come there. Azhwarkadiyan who was standing in front of the
crowd heard this and left the place silently to bring Kundavai. When he entered
Kundavai’s garden he found them trying to revive Vanathi who had regained
consciousness just as he entered. He informed the Princess about the thronging
crowds and their demands. Kundavai entrusted the care of Vanathi to her
maidservants and left the palace hurriedly.
 |
| Princess Kundavai and Queen Sembiyanmadevi |
She
went to Sembiyanmadevi’s palace and joined the Dowager Queen in the balcony.
The queen’s tears and worry lined face brought tears to the Princess’s eyes.
This caused more distress to the crowd who saw this as proof that their Prince
was indeed dead.
They
shouted, “Ponniyin Selvar didn’t drown in the sea. The Pazhuvur brothers have
killed him. We must seek vengeance for their vile act.”
Many
others shouted, “They have imprisoned the Emperor in his palace. If the
Princess would allow us we will go to Thanjavur and free him from their
clutches.”
Kundavai
was faced with a dilemma. She didn’t want to reveal to the crowd that Prince
Arul Mozhi was alive and safe and yet she needed to somehow placate the crowd
and send them back home. She could think of only one idea to get this done and
she decided to use it.
Wiping
the tears off her eyes, Princess looked down at the courtyard. Azhwarkadiyan
and Vandiya Devan were standing in the forefront of the crowd. She signalled
them to come upstairs and when Azhwarkadiyan came she whispered something to
him.
Azhwarkadiyan
stepped forward to the courtyard and signalled for silence and then with a
booming voice he said, “Princess Kundavai does not believe that Ponniyin Selvar
is dead at the sea. Years ago, Mother Kaveri saved his life and gave him back
as a gift and she believes that the God of Sea too would save the Prince’s life
and give him back to us. She consulted the Soothsayer and he too says the same
thing. The Princess has therefore decided that she would make proper
arrangements to search for the Prince. She requests you all to go back home
now.”
After
hearing this, the crowds cheered wildly and one of them said, “Where is this
Soothsayer? We would like to hear this good news from him.”
Hearing
this Vandiya Devan stepped forward and said, “It is true that the Prince was in
grave danger but the stars foretell that his life is safe. He will be back
among us soon.”
Someone
from the crowd asked, “How do you know?”
“I
am a Soothsayer. I studied the planets and stars and learned about the Prince’s
fate.”
“Lies!
You are lying. You are not the Soothsayer. You are spy.”
Startled
Vandiya Devan looked down the crowd and found that the voice belonged to
Pazhaiarai Physician’s son.
“Fool!
How dare you call me a spy? Whose spy am I then?”
“You
are the spy of Pazhuvur brothers or Pazhuvur Elaya Rani.”
“What
did you say?” growled Vandiya Devan.
The
balcony where they were standing was at least 12 feet in height and yet that
didn’t deter Vandiya Devan from pouncing on the Physician’s son and soon the
two were engaged in a fistfight while the rest of the crowd looked on.
Kundavai
and the others watched this with trepidation from the balcony and the crowd
started shouting yet again.
Just
then, they heard the blaring of couches and pipes was heard and a herald
announced the arrival. “Make way for Prime Minister Anirudha Brahmarayar” and
the crowd parted automatically.
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