The Song Of Her Heart-Lord Patteeswarar

Anecdotes

-Staff

By Staff

Tuesday, October 21, 2008, 15:38

She watched Shiva and Parvati being ceremoniously bathed in the process of Abishekam. The conquerer of her heart stood silently smiling with His consort as the band of priests voiced the sacred syllables that flowed forth in the traditional Hindu rhythm. The gathered relatives were all lost in the mood of the elaborate worship offered to the deities. It was the annual worship offered to Lord Patteeshwarar and Pachainayaki Amman of Perur by the family in a mantap close to the temple.

She was unusually detached from the usual prayerful mood with eyes beholding her heart's possessor. She stood there with emotions ragging within her; her countenance and bearing not projecting her inner ruffle and the utter nonchalance with which she attended the Pooja. A myriad of thoughts arose in communion with the Lord, battling with Him for the undesired turn of events. She decided "I will not sing for you today. What difference would it make to you as there are numerous professional singers in your creation to sing your praise ?"

It was customary of her to sing with eyes closed beholding Him in her heart's chamber at the culmination of the elaborate session every year. That day she stood way from her Lord, hiding behind those who thronged to get a clear glimpse of Him with occasional rise and fall of their heels. The pooja was about to end. A relative who stood next urged her to sing. She muttered an excuse and turned away to the other's surprise.

The worship came to an end. The priests shouted out to the palanquin bearers to carry the deities back to the temple. Unusually the palanquin bearers were not to be seen in the closest vicinity. Their presence was a compulsion there at the appropriate moment at the end of the worship. 'The Lord ought not to be waiting'. As voices clamoured for the bearers, a priest loudly called out amongst the crowd for someone to sing while the search for the bearers took place. She slowly slipped through the gathering and moved farther behind barring herself from the view of the known ones who would urge her to sing. As she did, she spotted a priest jostling amidst the crowd, as he moved with eyes swiftly shifting from face to face.

She soon found the pair of eyes involved in the search looking at her. As she nervously swallowed a lump down her throat, the priest walked up to her and said "You should not make the Lord wait. Please come forward and sing". As her voice opened out in words of devotional adoration, face to face with the lord, eyes closed with the usual devotion with palms touching each other. She saw her Lord within her who persistently occupied her heart's cavern as she sang "Thiru valar thillaiyelae Eesanai Kanndaen...." ( I saw the Lord in Thillai where divinity reigns).

As He was moved towards the temple, His swaying back revealed a joyous revelation of a conquest. But is He aware of the joy of losing ? Sometimes losing to the beloved makes an endearing leaf in the book of love.