Samsāra

Chapter Two

I specifically created a festival for this book and introduced a new local deity.

'Was it necessary for the sari?' Ajiona asked tugging at the colourful material.

Juliana rolled her eyes. 'It's not cultural appropriation; you are just getting a feel of the culture.'

'I can get a feel of the culture without wearing a lehenga and choli,' Ajiona hissed at her friend then patted at her hair. She had twisted the unruly curls into a tight topknot, showing off her long graceful neck.

Juliana smiled and hooked her arm with Ajiona's. 'We can get henna tattoos afterwards and maybe you can get a septum ring.'

Ajiona gave her a look that plainly said she was out of her mind if she was going to get her septum pierced. With a sigh, Ajiona fell in with the rest of the tourists.

Mahishmathi always had the highest number of tourists, no one knew why. It was a small almost inconspicuous city built on a hill with a great past. The palace complex was one of the relics of that past, a forbidden ruin at the pinnacle of the largest hill, the city surrounding it. The city although now modern still retained some of its ancient buildings and the wall that encircled it still stood with those huge elephant statues manning the four gates and bridges at each gates arching over branches of the river Mahishi that wound round the city, slipped into it and then out. Mahishmathi was bordered on the east by a mountain range among which was the looming Gauriparvat; river islands formed its western borders where pearl harvest was common. To the north were former vassal states most of them extinct, the ruins of the vassal kingdom, Kunthala kingdom was recently recovered and tourist trooped to the place as much as they came in multitudes to Mahishmathi, the south of the city was mostly semi-wilderness and dense forests though a branch of the Mahishi river snaked its way through and emptied out further into the sea.

Ajiona flipped through the brochure she had picked at the stand by the gates of the palace. The sun was high in the sky and fierce, Ajiona wished she had brought a head covering; at least she brought a bottle of water. It was in her backpack, along with her laptop, phone and bars of chocolate for Juliana.

The guide named Ganesha after a god of fortune was a portly dude with dark brown skin and hair hidden under a turban. He spoke in efficient English with minimal accent, he didn't drone on about the history of the palace in a long winding and boring way. Instead it was engaging and very interesting. He spoke almost like the troubadours of the past, snaring their attention, his voice low and calm.

'The kingdom Mahishmathi was established circa 700 BCE, they flourished and was one of the great kingdoms that endured for a long time before India's fall to the British rule. Mahishmathi was once ruled by a tribal group called the Vaithalikas who knew the secret to the Gaurikanta, a special stone mined from the now dormant volcano Gauriparvat, the alloy gotten from it was called Gauridhooli and when mixed with metal created an invincible weapon. One time in the past, they provided shelter to a man called Uthama Varma who stoke the secret and ousted the Vaithalikas from the kingdom into the forest using the Gaurikanta and capture the Mahishmathi kingdom...'

Ajiona was lost in his voice, forgetting that they were tramping on sun warmed cobbled courtyards with no shade. They were soon led into the palace itself; it was the size of a whole city with multiple squares and courtyards, pavilions and terraces and temples with countless statues of gods.

They trooped after their guide like chicks after mother hen as the man showed them the square where the coronation took place and other important events that the king had to oversee. At the top of a tiered dais was his golden throne; far below were gilded seats for dignitaries. Ganesha showed them the iron cage where a princess, called Devasena was kept captive for twenty five years. Devasena was apparently wife to one of the Bahubalis and rejected the Bhalla's advances leading to her imprisonment.