A Magical Spell ~ Ramayan | @TheLadyAesthetic

21. A Joyous Occasion

(Hey Spotify, remember that song from 2019's Kalank called 'Ghar More Pardesiya'? 🪷 )

All one could see in the ten directions upon entering the grandly decorated highways of Ayodhya, was flowers and people. The roaring seemed to never end, radiating in waves from the dense crowds of overjoyed citizens, who blissfully crammed the broad roads, heedless of the pouring afternoon heat, in a sincere attempt to catch a glimpse of the victoriously returning princes.

Flowers fell like rain from the skies, showered in massive quantities by the respectable ladies standing in the inner apartments. Flags of every color were hoisted everywhere, fluttering enchantingly in the mild breeze that had peacefully settled in with the death of the demon.

The royal elephants of huge physique, adorned with fragrant sandalwood pulp, and proudly sporting their massive tusks of solid ivory plated with gold, paraded majestically throughout the highways, spreading perfumed water over the royally decked roads, as the large golden bells adorning their massive feet jingled melodiously, yet harshly. Brahmanas walked in rows ahead of them, chanting mantras to invoke auspiciousness as they scattered grains of sacred rice upon the scented passages.

At the entrance of the royal palace, the most beautifully adorned part of the entire celebration, lit with lamps and strung with flowers of every kind, stood the world-conquering monarch himself, his grand garments of exquisitely crafted silk waving loftily in the welcoming waves of pleasant wind, and his large kindly diadem majestically honoring the crown of his head.

Surrounding him were the three principal queens, dawning their own fine garments of distinguished elite material, and decked with lotuses of heavenly frgrance. And flanking those respectable ladies of utmost grace, clad in bright garments signifying their identities as the princes' wives, stood the all-attractuce daughters of Videha, their beautiful faces smiling in unconcealed joy upon the victory of their valorous husbands.

Finally, rising supremely above the deafening the clamor of the ongoing festivities, the large kettledrums placed at the huge main gates of the royal compound were sounded tumultuously, their din reverberating for miles, giving great joy to everyone in attendance.

The royal members smiled, knowing well the significance of the tumult. Their princes had arrived.

The drumming was swiftly followed by a deafening uproar caused by the synchronized blowing of a thousand golden conchshells at once, the uproar pleasantly harsh upon the ears, accompanied by trumpets and other instruments signifying triumph.

And if flowers had been showering before, they were raining now, that too in celestial volumes from the skies which assumed a colorful shade due to the constantly falling petals. A deafening clamor arose, a pleasant one, as the ecstatic citizens roared and beat their own instruments in a blissful frenzy.

Gradually, Ayodhya's massive army poured into the city through the insufficienly wide and grand entrance, their arrival causing the earth to tremor under their fierce gait. At the head of the tightly packed rows of celebrating soldiers, rode none other than the four princes, majestically on their huge golden chariots, which had been covered in lotus petals by now.

The large military elephants of dark and intimidating resemblance rode grandly at the very front, flaunting their huge tusks of ivory, and goaded inoffensively by their valiant riders, their huge golden ornaments swinging heavily to their sides.

The cavalry unit, consisting of over a hundred thousand mountain-like stallions of formidable yet godly appearance, marched immediately behind the huge bodied creatures adorned in velvet, their silky mane waving gently in the afternoon breeze, sprinkled with petals of the sacred marigold flower.