Shatru Sesham: Sequel of Baahubali ✔️

Chapter Sixty-Four (Part 1)

At Urumi Nachiyar's Headquarters in Vijayapuri,
"Yendaro veerulu Varendarivo veera gaadhalu
Yennenno thyagalu Vaarivenneno swapnalu
Anni nee paada kamalaalaku arpitamu
Jayathu Jayathu Matha Vijayapuri Bhagyavidhatri
Jayathu Jayathu!"
(So many brave warriors and so many their brave legends
So many sacrifices and so many their dreams
All these are offerings at your sacred feet
Victory to you O Mother of Vijayapuri who writes our destiny
Victory to you!)

The entire clan was celebrating the moment of victory against their evil oppressors. All the houses were decorated with mango leaves, chrysanthemum and marigold flowers. The porch in front of all the houses was washed with water and anointed with cow dung to ward off evil and bad omens. Intricate and colorful flower patterns were drawn with rice flour and decorated with colorful flowers on top.

The ladies were all dressed in their brightest hues of handwoven cottons for which Vijayapuri was very famous. Every household in Vijayapuri had a handloom and every lady of the house knew how to fashion the fanciest clothes and furnishings for her household.

Apart from this, weaving baskets and pottery was another major accomplishment every man and woman of Vijayapuri knew. Once the baskets were woven and the pots sun-dried in the torching heat of the Vijayapuri sun, the children of the house would paint them in the brightest hues and colors.

The first basket was always filled with chrysanthemum and marigold flowers and offered to the guardian deity of Vijayapuri, Goddess Annapoorna. The first pot of the year was always kept aside for the annual festivities dedicated to the goddess. It was used for making Pulagam (A kind of porridge made out of rice and lentils and offered to the mother goddess) during the festival.

In the evening, the women and girls would dance round a big bonfire clapping their hands and tapping their feet to the folk tunes of yore. These annual festivities of Vijayapuri usually came eight days before the Rama Navami. But Urumi Nachiyar sat in a corner, usually silent, not participating in any of the celebrations.

"We have won. Aren't you happy, Nachiyar?" Dharma, one of their clan elders asked.

"No, Aiyya. All these people around me are fools. They live and dream of an ideal world. But I live in the real. This victory came at the cost of several promising lives. Abinaya sacrificed so that we all could celebrate this day. This victory, this freedom is not here to stay. An even bigger army will be sent under an even more cruel and tyrannical Overlord. We all will be back in hiding in the mountains and forests of Vijayapuri. Once again a reign of terror will be unleashed. Both you and I will watch helplessly."

"True, Nachiyar", Dharma agreed. "It wasn't like this when Empress Shodasi Devi was ruling Vijayapuri."

"Unless we have the power to change and influence the center, any changes we bring about are cosmetic and superficial. There has to be someone who can galvanize everyone in the entire empire under their single banner. We have to back that someone and their cause to be heard. But who will that someone be?", Urumi Nachiyar mused silently.
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At the Palace of Mahishmati,
The roaring chant had begun once again in front of the palace at Mahishmati. The bustling clamor of noises started competing with one another for attention.

"Where is our Prince Narasimha? We want to see him now."

"Has Maharaj Subahu imprisoned him for insubordination?"

"Is it true that the bandits of Singapuram have abducted him and are demanding an enormous sum of money as ransom?"

"I heard that the paid mercenaries sent by Maharaj Trivikram of Gandhar have assassinated him. Is it true?"