Thanal culture it is rich, we love our music and dance. Bharatnatyam was originated from the region Thanal. We also are very much into literature, as well, for we had a whole age base on the literary works of that time. We also have had a huge navy throughout history. But the most important part of our culture are our temples. They were the centre of everything from education to jobs in the past. Our temples are huge, with intricate architecture of the colourful gopurams surrounding them, with various statues of deities. Some are in cities, some on top of hills some even near the sea. But there are six main abodes of lord Karthikeyan who is the god of war in Agni-mythology. He is the son of lord shiva and Goddess Parvati. His weapon is a Vel (Spear), and his mount is a peacock. He defeated the asuras in a major battle against Tarakasura. He is now one of the most worshipped gods in Thanal Nadu with his six abodes over here.
So, after our perfect day at Thee, we had to head on. Tej and I decided to go to Neruppuppori (Pazhani/Palani (the ‘zh’ is pronounced as ‘rr’)), one of the abodes of lord Kartikeyan, to vanquish the asura threat over there and save the thing I have to save, alone, while the others stayed at Thee. That day we prepared for the journey. Packed a silk frock for tomorrow, my quiver filled with fresh arrows and my bow. Tej decided she only needed her sword and some fresh clothes, which is more than she usually packs. As I was done packing, it was noon, and Ijan made us some delicious heavenly mac-n-cheese with the perfect amount of cheese. After lunch, Ijan hand-fed his pet fawn with some leaves he searched for which are suitable for deer. The fawn relished the leaves. I also assisted Ijan in feeding the fawn. He was so gentle with it. I bet the fawn had found its loving forever home.
Even though Ijan seems cold towards humans, he shows a softer side to animals. I mean, who could blame him? Humans are judgmental, rude and cruel, while animals are understanding, kind and supportive. It is good that Ijan found a creature who would be kind to him. I wish that I too could be someone who would give him the love he deserves.
Ok back to the business. I and I left at five in the evening and took the bus. We both brought our weapons. We took the morning sky-bus. By six, we climbed into the sky-way. The bus ride was ten hours on the sky-way, while below we had an amazing view. By night, we slept in our beds, and by three in the morning we arrived at Neruppuppori.
The small town was abandoned. The hotels and busing shops near the temple were empty. We were lucky enough that we found one hotel to freshen up. After freshening up and strapping our weapons on, we left for the temple by four in the morning.
The temple was on a hill, so we had to climb up. I chanted a sloka while going up, a tradition I adopted since childhood. We were halfway up until we found a group hiding in the hills. Among them was Tarakasura, the archnemesis of lord Kartikeyan.
The legend goes like this. Tarakasura was one of the most powerful of the asuras. He got a boon from lord Brahma, after harsh penance, that only the son of lord shiva could slay him (Yeah, I understand why the creator would give a boon to an asura, but you got to understand this: in Agni mythology, the asuras worship the god and perform harsh penances to get boons from the lords. The gods could not deny them that, but they could not reverse their boon; thus, they put some loopholes in the contract which may sound impossible but are possible. Thus, using his boon, Tarakasura wreaked havoc in the three Lokas(worlds), Patha-loka(Hell), Bhu-loka (Where people live) and Swarga-loka (Heaven). To defeat him, Lord Kartikeyan was born, the god of war (And one of the most worshipped gods in the Thanal region). He led a battle against the army of Tarakasura and killed Tarakasura.
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Now this Asura was back, and I did not understand how he was even in this plane of existence, but then I remembered Evanthia mentioning the minotaur coming back to life, so maybe this is also very much possible. I think the asura noticed cuz now he sent his army to attack us. Tej drew her sword, and I drew my bow, and we got to work. Slaying each asura until all were gone. However, I still did not know about their leader; he can only be killed by lord Kartikeyan. There would be a slim chance of a golden Vel (spear) dashing from the heavens aimed at Tarakasura. However, I am not going to get my hopes down; surely Lord Kartikeyan would save us from an unbeatable monster with the wrong genetic code. We just have to try.
We slay almost every asura. Some of them ran away from my arrows and disappeared into the hills. Now only Tarakasura was left, the main course with no dessert. He stood there and smugly said, “Foolish children, you think you could slay me; only the son of Shiva could slay me, not some weak kids.” However, we fought. Tej hurled her sword at him put nothing happened. I shot arrows and still nothing happened. We tried several times, but it was in vain. Now the sun was rising, and we were about to lose our hope.
Tej, with one last bit of anger, charged at him; however, he caught her and was about to hurl her away. Fury boiled in my blood. I chanted lord Karthikeyan’s and then shot an arrow. A ray of light flashed from the sky and combined with my arrow then it got so bright I could not see anything. The next thing I saw was Tej on the ground, and no sign of the asuran be just battelled. We decided to continue our climb. We entered the temple by six, which was a great number to start with. We passed through the beautiful interior filled with carvings of gods representing certain mythological stories.
We arrived at the main shrine by six-six another good time. In the shrine, the statue of lord Kartikeyan stood with his Vel in his hand. His peacock stood in front of him. Usually, this temple is famous for sacrificing your hair to the god. This temple is especially dedicated to Dhandayuthapani Swami, a form of lord Kartikeyan. When we reached there exactly at six-thirty-six, another good time, a mythical voice in my head said, “Take the Vel” I was astonished. I could not take the Vel; it belongs to the god. I argued against it, but the voice said, “You need it; it is not the original. It is an artifact created after the restoring of magic; it is not mythical in any sense. Just take consider it as a gift.” I hesitated, then reached into the shrine and carefully took out the Vel.
The Vel was a beautiful golden weapon. It had a ruby in the centre its head. On its head were some designs carved onto it. Its handle was beautiful fiery designs(Note by the Author: not on the actual thing this is just something extra I added so that it would be like a weapon of fire). It seemed to radiate heat and power and bravery. It glowed pink in my hands when I lifted it.
As a thank you, I left pink flowers at the deity’s feet, prayed and just sat there for a few minutes.
We left by seven (close to a good time) and reached the ground by eight. We took the bus back to Thee and arrived at six in the evening another good time.