Abode of the Gods

‘What! Who attacked you?’ cried a concerned Nandi as he rushed towards Shiva to

check his wounds.

‘Relax Nandi,’ replied Shiva. ‘You are in worse shape than I am after your adventure in

the water. It’s just a few superficial cuts. Nothing serious. The doctors have already

dressed the wounds. I am alright.’

‘I am sorry, my Lord. It’s entirely my fault. I should never have left you alone. It will

never happen again. Please forgive me, my Lord.’

Pushing Nandi gently back on to the bed, Shiva said, ‘There’s nothing to forgive, my

friend. How can this be your fault? Please calm down. Getting overworked will not do

your health any good.’

Once Nandi had calmed down a bit, Shiva continued, ‘In any case, I don’t think they

were trying to kill us. It was very strange.’

‘Us?’

‘Yes, there were two women involved.’

‘But who could these attackers be?’ asked Nandi. Then a disturbing thought dawned on

Nandi. ‘Did the attackers wear a pendant with a crescent moon on it?’

Shiva frowned. ‘No. But there was this one strange man. The best swordsmen of them

all. He was covered from head to toe in a hooded robe, his face veiled by a mask, the

kind I’ve seen you people wear at that colour festival . What is it called?’

‘Holi , my Lord?’

‘Yes, the holi kind of mask. In any case, you could only see his eyes and his hands.

His only distinguishing feature was a leather bracelet with a strange symbol on it’

‘What symbol, my Lord?’

Picking up a palm-leaf booklet and the thin charcoal writing-stick from the side table,

Shiva drew the symbol.

Nandi frowned. ‘That is an ancient symbol that some people used for the word Aum. But

who would want to use this symbol now?’

‘Aum?’ asked Shiva.

‘My Lord, Aum is the holiest word in our religion. It is considered to be the primeval

sound of nature. The hymn of the universe. It was so holy that for many millennia, most

people would not insult it by putting it down in written form.’

‘Then how did this symbol come about?’

‘It was devised by Lord Bharat, a great ruler who had conquered practically all of India

many thousands of years ago. He was a rare Chandravanshi who was worth respecting and had even married a Suryavanshi princess with the aim of ending our

perpetual war.’

‘Who are the Chandravanshis? ’ asked Shiva.

‘Think of them as the very antithesis of us, my Lord. They are the followers of the kings

who are the descendants of the moon .’

‘And they follow the lunar calendar?’

‘Yes, my Lord. They are a crooked, untrustworthy and lazy people with no rules, morals

or honour. They are cowards and never attack like principled Kshatriyas. Even their

kings are corrupt and selfish. The Chandravanshis are a blot on humanity!’

‘But what does the Aum symbol have to do with this?’

‘Well, King Bharat came up with this symbol of unity between the Suryavanshis and the

Chandravanshis. The top half in white represented the Chandravanshis.

The bottom half in red represented the Suryavanshis.

The part in orange coming out of the meeting of these two parts represented the

common path.

The crescent moon to the right of the symbol was the existing Chandravanshi symbol.

And the sun above it was the existing Suryavanshi symbol.

To signify that this was a pact blessed by the gods, Lord Bharat got a mandate for the

pronunciation of this symbol as the holy word Aum.’

‘And then what happened?’

‘As expected, the pact died with the good king. Once the influence of Lord Bharat was

gone, the Chandravanshis were up to their old ways and the war began once again.

The symbol was forgotten. And the word Aum reverted to its original form of a word

without a written representation.’

‘But the symbol on the bracelet of this hooded man was not coloured. It was all black.

And the parts of the symbol didn’t look like lines to me. They looked like a drawing of

three serpents.’

‘Naga!’ exclaimed a shocked Nandi, before mumbling a soft prayer and touching his

Rudra pendant for protection.

‘Now who the bloody hell are the Nagas?’ asked Shiva.

‘They are cursed people, my Lord,’ gasped Nandi. ‘They are born with hideous

deformities because of the sins of their previous births. Deformities like extra hands or

horribly misshapen faces. But they have tremendous strength and skills. The Naga

name alone strikes terror in any citizen’s heart. They are not even allowed to live in the

Sapt Sindhu.’

‘The Sapt Sindhu?’

‘Our land, my Lord, the land of the seven rivers. The land of the Indus, Saraswati,

Yamuna, Ganga, Sarayu, Brahmaputra and Narmada. This is where Lord Manu

mandated that all of us, Suryavanshis and Chandravanshis, live.’

Shiva nodded as Nandi continued. ‘The city of the Nagas exists to the south of the

Narmada, beyond the border of our lands. In fact, it is bad luck to even speak of them,

my Lord!’

‘But why would a Naga attack me? Or any Meluhan for that matter?’

Cursing under his breath, Nandi said, ‘Because of the Chandravanshis! What levels

have these two-faced people sunk to? Using the demon Nagas in their attacks! In their

hatred for us, they don’t even realise how many sins they are inviting on their own

souls!’

Shiva frowned. During the attack, it hadn’t appeared that the Naga was being used by

the small platoon of soldiers. In fact, it looked to him like the Naga was the leader.

It took another week for them to reach Devagiri. The capital city of the Meluhans stood

on the west bank of the Saraswati, which emerged at the confluence of the Sudej and

Yamuna rivers. Sadly, the Saraswati’s flow was severely reduced compared to her once

mighty size. But even in her abbreviated state, she was still massive and awe-inspiring.

Unlike many of the tempestuous rivers of the Punjab, the Saraswati was achingly calm.

The river seemed to sense that her days were coming to an end. Yet, she did not fight

aggressively to ****** her way through and survive. Instead, she unselfishly gave her all

to those who came to seek her treasures.

The soaring Devagiri though, was in complete contrast to the mellow Saraswati. Like all

Meluhan cities, Devagiri too was built on giant platforms, an effective protection against

floods and a sturdy defence against enemies. However, where Devagiri was different

from other Meluhan cities was in its sheer size. The city sprawled over three giant

platforms, each of them spreading over three hundred and fifty hectares, significantly

larger than other cities. The platforms were nearly eight metres high and were bastioned

with giant blocks of cut stone interspaced with baked bricks. Two of the platforms,

named Tamra and Rajat , literally, bronze and silver , were for the common man,

whereas the platform named Svarna or gold was the royal citadel. The platforms

were connected to each other by tall bridges, made of stones and baked bricks, which

rose above the flood plains below.

Along the periphery of each enormous platform were towering city walls, with giant

spikes facing outwards. There were turrets at regular intervals along the city walls from

where approaching enemies could be repelled. This spectacle was beyond anything

that Shiva had ever seen. In his mind, the construction of a city like this must truly be

man’s greatest achievement.

Shiva’s entourage rode up to the drawbridge across the field of spikes to the Tamra

platform. The drawbridge had been reinforced with metal bars at the bottom and had

roughened baked bricks laid out on top so that horses and chariots would not slip.

There was something about the bricks he had seen across the empire that had intrigued

Shiva. Turning to Nandi he asked, Are these bricks made as per some standard

process?’

‘Yes my Lord,’ replied a surprised Nandi. All the bricks in Meluha are made as per

specifications and guidelines given by the Chief Architect of the empire. But how did you

guess?’

‘They are all exactly the same dimension.’

Nandi beamed in pride at his empire’s efficiency and his Lord’s power of observation.

The platform rose at the end of the drawbridge, with a road spiralling up to the summit in

one gende turn, facilitating the passage of horses and chariots. In addition, there was a

broad flight of stairs leading straight up the incline for pedestrians. The city walls and

the platform extended steeply onto the sides around this slope, making it a valley of

death for any enemy foolish enough to attack the platform from this area.

The city gates were made of a metal that Shiva had never seen before. Nandi clarified

that they were made of iron, a new metal that had just been discovered. It was the

strongest of all the metals but very expensive. The ore required to make it was not

easily available. At the platform entry, on top of the city gates, was etched the symbol of

the Suryavanshis — a bright red circular sun with its rays blazing out in all directions.

Below it was the motto that they lived by ‘Satya. Dharma. Maan ’: Truth. Duty. Honour .

Seeing just this much of the city had left Shiva awestruck. However, the sight that he

witnessed at the top of the platform, within the city gates, was truly breathtaking both in

its efficiency and simplicity. The city was divided into a grid of square blocks by the

paved streets. There were footpaths on the side for pedestrians, lanes marked on the

street for traffic in different directions, and of course, there were covered drains running

through the centre. All the buildings were constructed as standard two storied block

structures made of baked bricks. On top were wooden extensions for increasing the

height of the building, if required. Nandi clarified to Shiva that the structure of the

buildings differed internally depending on their specific requirements. All windows and

doors were built strictly on the side walls of buildings, never facing the main road.

The blank walls that faced the main roads bore striking black line drawings depicting the

different legends of the Suryavanshis, while the background was painted in the sober

colours of grey, light blue, light green or white. The most common background colour

though, appeared to be blue. In the Meluhan mind, blue was the holiest colour of them

all. It was the colour of the sky. It was just above green, the colour of the earth, in the

colour spectrum. Meluhans, who liked to see some greater design in every act of

nature, thought it was marvellous that blue was above green in the colour spectrum just

as the sky was above the earth.

The most recurring illustrations on the walls were about the great emperor, Lord Ram.

His victories over his enemies, his subjugation of the wicked Chandravanshis, incidents

that proved his statesmanship and wisdom, had been lovingly recreated. Lord Ram was

deeply revered, and many Meluhans had come to worship him like a god. They referred

to him as Vishnu , an ancient title for the greatest of the gods meaning protector of the

world &propagator of good .

As Shiva learned from Nandi, the city was divided into many districts consisting of four

to eight blocks. Each district had its own markets, commercial and residential areas,

temples and entertainment centres. Manufacturing or any other polluting activity was

conducted in separate quarters away from the districts. The efficiency and smoothness

with which Devagiri functioned belied the fact that it was the most populous city in the

entire empire. The last census just two years back had pegged the population of the city

at two hundred thousand.

Nandi led Shiva and the three soldiers to one of the city’s numerous guest houses, built

for the many tourists that frequented Devagiri, for both business and leisure. Tying up

their horses in the designated area outside the guest house, the party walked in to

register themselves and check into their rooms. The guest house had a style similar to

the many that Shiva had seen throughout their journey. There was a central courtyard

with the building built around it. The rooms were comfortably furnished and spacious.

‘My Lord, it’s almost time for dinner,’ said Nandi. ‘I will speak with the housekeeper and

have some food arranged. We should eat early and get enough sleep since our

appointment with the Emperor has been fixed at the beginning of the second prahar

tomorrow’

‘Sounds like a good idea.’

‘Also, if it is all right with you, shall I dismiss the soldiers and send them back to

Srinagar?’

‘That also sounds like a good idea,’ said a smiling Shiva. Why Nandi, you are almost

like a fount of brilliant ideas!’

Nandi laughed along with Shiva, always happy to be the cause of a smile on his Lord’s

face. ‘I’ll just be back, my Lord.’

Shiva lay down on his bed and was quickly lost in the thoughts that really mattered to

him.

I’ll finish the meeting with the Emperor as soon as humanly possible, give him whatever

the bloody hell he wants and then scour the city for Sati.

Shiva had considered asking Nandi about the whereabouts of Sati but had eventually

decided against it. He was painfully aware that he had made a less than spectacular

impression on her at their first meeting. If she hadn’t made it easy for him to find her, it

only meant that she wasn’t terribly stirred by him. He didn’t want to compound the issue

by speaking casually about her to others.

He smiled as the memory of her face came flooding back to him. He replayed the

magical moments when he had seen her fighting. Not the most romantic of sights for

most men of his tribe. But for Shiva, it was divine. He sighed recalling her soft, delicate

body, which had suddenly developed brutal, killer qualities upon being attacked. The

curves that had so captivated him swung smoothly as she transferred her weight to

swing her sword. The sober tied hair had swayed sensuously with each move of the

sword arm. He breathed deeply.

What a woman!

It was early in the morning when Shiva and Nandi crossed the bridge between the

Tamra and Svarna platforms to reach the royal citadel. The bridge, another marvel of

Meluhan engineering, was flanked on the sides by a thick wall. Holes had been drilled

on the walls, to shoot arrows or pour hot oil on enemies. The bridge was bisected by a

massive gate, a final protection just in case the other platform was lost to an enemy.

When they crossed over to the Svarna platform, Shiva was completely taken by

surprise, not by the grandeur of the royal area but by the lack of it. He was shocked by

the fact that there was no opulence. Despite ruling over such a massive and wealthy

empire, the nobility lived in a conspicuously simple manner. The structure of the royal

citadel was almost exacdy like the other platforms. There were no special concessions

for the aristocrats. The same block structures that dominated all of Meluha were to be

found in the royal citadel as well. The only magnificent structure was to the far right and

sported the sign ‘Great Public Bath’. The Bath also had a glorious temple to Lord Indra

to the left. The temple, built of wood, stood on a raised foundation of baked bricks, its

cupola plated with solid gold! It seemed that special architecture was reserved only for

structures built for the Gods or ones that were for the common good.

Probably just like how Lord Ram would have preferred.

The only concession to the emperor, however, was that his standard block structure

was larger than the others. Significantly larger.

Shiva and Nandi entered the royal private office to find Emperor Daksha sitting on a

simple throne at the far end of the modesdy furnished room, flanked by a man and a

woman.

Daksha, greeting Shiva with a formal namaste, said. ‘I hope your journey was

comfortable.’

He looked too young to be an emperor of such a large country. Though he was

marginally shorter than Shiva, the major difference between them was the musculature.

While the strapping Shiva was powerfully built, Daksha’s body showed that it had not

been strained by too much exercise. He wasn’t obese either. Just average. The same

could be said about his wheatish complexioned face. Average sized, dark eyes flanked

a straight nose. He wore his hair long like most Meluhan men and women. The head

bore a majestic crown with the sun symbol of the Suryavanshis manifested in the centre

through sparkling gem stones. An elegant dhoti, with an angvastram hung down the

right shoulder and a large amount of functional jewellery, including two amulets on his

right arm, complemented Daksha’s average appearance. His only distinguishing feature

was his smile — which spread its innocent conviction all the way to his eyes. Emperor

Daksha looked like a man who wore his royalty lightly.

‘Yes it was, your highness,’ replied Shiva. The infrastructure in your empire is wonderful.

You are an extraordinary emperor.’

‘Thank you. But I only deserve reflected credit. The work is done by my people,’

‘You are too modest, your Highness.’

Smiling politely, Daksha asked, ‘May I introduce my most important aides?’ Without

waiting for an answer, he pointed to the woman on his left, ‘This is my prime minister,

Kanakhala. She takes care of all administrative, revenue and protocol matters.’

Kanakhala did a formal namaste to Shiva. Her head was shaved except for a tuft of

smooth hair at the back which had been tied in a knot. She had a string called the janau

tied across from her left shoulder down to the right side of her torso. She looked young

like most Meluhans, but was a little overweight as was clearly evident from the excess

flesh she bore between the white blouse and dhoti. She had a dark and incredibly

smooth complexion and like all her countrymen, wore jewellery that was restrained and

conservative. Shiva noticed that the second amulet on Kanakhala’s arm showed a

pigeon. Not a very high chosen-tribe amongst the Brahmins. Shiva bent low and did a

formal Namaste in reply.

Pointing to his right, Daksha said, ‘And this is my chief of the armed forces, General

Parvateshwar. He looks after the army, navy, special forces, police etc’

Parvateshwar looked like a man that Shiva would think twice about taking on in a battle.

He was taller than Shiva and had an immensely muscular physique that dominated the

space around him. His curly and long hair had been combed fastidiously and fell neady

from under his crown. His smooth, swarthy skin was marked by the proud signs of long

years in battle. His body was hairless, in a rare departure from the normally hirsute

Kshatriya men who took body hair to be a sign of machismo. Probably to make up for

this deficiency, Parvateshwar maintained a thick and long moustache which curled

upwards at the edges. His eyes reflected his uncompromisingly strong and righteous

character. The second amulet on his arm showed Parvateshwar as a tiger, a very high

chosen-tribe amongst the Kshatriyas. He nodded curdy at Shiva. No Namaste. No

elaborate bow of his proud head. Shiva, however, smiled warmly and greeted

Parvateshwar with a formal Namaste.

‘Please wait outside, Captain,’ advised Parvateshwar, looking at Nandi.

Before Nandi could respond, Shiva cut in. ‘My apologies. But is it alright if Nandi stays

here with me? He has been my constant companion since I left my homeland and has

become a dear and trusted friend.’

‘Of course he may,’ replied Daksha.

‘Your Highness, it is not appropriate for a Captain to be witness to this discussion,’ said

Parvateshwar. ‘In any case, his service rules clearly state that he can only escort a

guest into the emperor’s presence and not stay there while a matter of state is

discussed.’

‘Oh relax Parvateshwar. You take your service rules too seriously sometimes.’ Turning

to Shiva, Daksha continued, ‘If it is alright with you, may we see your neck now?’

Nandi slid behind Shiva to untie the cravat. Seeing the beads darned on the cravat to

convey the impression that the throat was covered for religious reasons, Daksha smiled

and whispered, ‘Good idea.’

As Nandi pulled Shiva’s cravat off, Daksha and Kanakhala came close to inspect

Shiva’s throat in greater detail. Parvateshwar did not step forward but strained his neck

slightly to get a better look. Daksha and Kanakhala seemed clearly stunned by what

they saw.

The emperor felt the throat and whispered in awe, ‘The colour comes from the inside. It

is not a dye. It is true and genuine.’

Daksha and Kanakhala glanced at each other, tears glistening in their astounded eyes.

Kanakhala folded her hands into a namaste and began mumbling a chant under her

breath. Daksha looked up at Shiva’s face, trying desperately to suppress the ecstasy

that coursed through his insides. With a controlled smile, the Emperor of Meluha said, 1

hope we have not done anything to cause you any discomfort since your arrival in

Meluha.’

Despite Daksha’s controlled reaction, Shiva could guess that both the emperor and his

prime minister were taken aback by his blue throat.

Just how important is this bloody blue throat for the Meluhans?

‘Umm, none at all your Highness,’ replied Shiva as he tied the cravat back around his

neck. ‘In fact, my tribe and I have been delighted by the hospitality that we have

received here.’

‘I’m glad for that,’ smiled Daksha, bowing his head politely. ‘You may want to rest a litde

bit and we could talk in more detail tomorrow. Would you like to shift your residence to

the royal citadel? It is rumoured that the quarters here are a litde more comfortable.’

‘That is a very kind offer, your Highness.’

Daksha turned to Nandi and asked, ‘Captain, what did you say your name was?’

‘My name is Nandi, your Highness.’

‘You too are welcome to stay here. Make sure that you take good care of our honoured

guest. Kanakhala, please make all the arrangements.’

‘Yes, your Highness.’

Kanakhala called in one of her aides, who escorted Shiva and Nandi out of the royal

office.

As Shiva exited the room, Daksha went down on his haunches with great ceremony and

touched his head to the ground on which Shiva had just stood. He mumbled a prayer

sofdy and stood up again to look at Kanakhala with tears in his eyes. Kanakhala’s eyes,

however, betrayed impatience and a touch of anger.

‘I didn’t understand, your Highness,’ glared Kanakhala. ‘The blue mark was genuine.

Why did you not tell him?’

‘What did you expect me to do?’ cried a surprised Daksha. ‘This is his second day in

Devagiri. You want me to just accost him and tell him that he is the Neelkanth, our

saviour? That he has been sent to solve all our problems?’

‘Well, if he has a blue throat, then he is the Neelkanth, isn’t he? And if he is the

Neelkanth, then he is our saviour. He has to accept his destiny.’

An exasperated Parvateshwar interjected. ‘I can’t believe that we are talking like this.

We are Meluhans! We are the Suryavanshis! We have created the greatest civilisation

ever known to man. And some barbarian with no education, no skills, no merit is going

to be our saviour? Just because he has a blue throat?’

‘That is what the legend says Parvateshwar,’ countered Kanakhala.

Daksha interrupted both his ministers. ‘Parvateshwar, I believe in the legend. My people

believe in the legend. The Neelkanth has chosen my reign to appear. He will transform

all of India to the ideals of Meluha — a land of truth, duty and honour. With his

leadership, we can end the Chandravanshi crisis once and for all. All the agonies they

inflict upon us will be over — from the terrorist attacks to the shortage of Somras to the

killing of the Saraswati.’

‘Then why delay telling him, your Highness?’ asked Kanakhala. ‘The more days we

waste, the weaker becomes the resolve of our people. You know there was another

terrorist attack just a few days back at a village not far from Hariyupa. As our reaction

becomes weak, our enemies become bolder, your Highness. We must tell the Lord

quickly and announce his arrival to our people. It will give us the strength to fight our

cruel enemies.’

‘I will tell him. But I am trying to be more farsighted than you. So far our empire has only

faced the morale-sapping influence of fraudulent Neelkanths. Imagine the

consequences if people found out that the true Neelkanth has come but refuses to

stand by us. First we must be sure that he is willing to accept his destiny. Only then will

we announce him to our people. And I think that the best way to convince him is to

share the whole truth with him. Once he sees the unfairness of the attacks we face, he

will fight with us to destroy evil. If that takes time, so be it. We have waited for centuries

for the Neelkanth. A few more weeks will not destroy us.’

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***