March 24th, 1656
Dakshin Bharatiya Empire, The City of Amaravathi
Early in the morning, just half an hour before dawn, the city of Amaravathi woke up to the priests chanting mantras in the temple of Amareshwara. The idol of Lord Shiva, as if just being unveiled, had a gleam of brilliance with the rise of the sun.
This was a daily occurrence as the neighbourhood swept the streets, adorned them with colourful rangolis, and the temple premises were cleaned with the help of devotees.
It was yet another normal day for the city as it began to prepare to receive pilgrims from all over the subcontinent.
A few hours passed, and the primary preparations for the Pooja of the Lord had been completed, and the temple was getting ready to open its Sanctum Sanctorum.
A family of three, namely Arvind Kejriwal, Nirmala Kejriwal, and Ujjwal Kejriwal, arrived at the temple of Lord Amraiswara. They were pilgrims from the state of Kakatiya Puri in the region of Guntur.
The father, Arvind Kejriwal, adorned with a South Indian white fabric called Pancha, and the wife, adorned with a traditional saree, had a look of devotion on their faces as they clasped their hands in the posture of namaskara and moved forward towards the interior of the temple along with the other devotees.
Their son, Ujjwal Kejriwal, was looking around curiously like a cat as this was the first time he had come to this place. After a few minutes of waiting in the queue, the Kejriwal family finally got a chance to enter the main Gopuram of the temple.
It was crowded, and Ujjwal, who was running around happily exploring the temple premises, suddenly felt constrained as he found himself in the middle of a crowd of people. Since he was only six years old and 4 feet tall, all he could see were the legs of the people. The constrained atmosphere made the air very hot, which made him uncomfortable.
Fortunately, his mother, Nirmala, noticing the discomfort of her child, quickly picked him up and carried him on her waist. The little boy’s face was filled with a smile once again as he felt like he was on top of everyone.
The crowd moved forward one step at a time, slowly but surely getting closer to the Darshanam.
"Ding!"
The bells in the temple were constantly ringing as the devotees rang the bell while doing namaskara.
"Shiva!" Arvind exclaimed as they finally got the chance to witness the divine image of Lord Amraeshwara, the incarnation of Lord Shiva the Destroyer In all his divine glory.
Nirmala started chanting some slokas that she knew and at the same time, she had Ujjwal clasp his hands as she directed him to look at the idol and pray.
Arvind, swiping three fingers through the bone-coloured powder, swiftly applied it to his forehead and neck. As a finishing touch, he drew a line perpendicularly through the three lines on his forehead.
Since his wife was carrying his son, Arvind had to apply the Vibhuti (also called bhasma or tirunīru, a sacred ash made of burnt dried wood) for his wife himself. He did the same for his son.
The priest quickly chanted mantras and conducted rituals, bringing the sacred fire near them.
Arvind immediately touched the flames and put his hands on his eyes, taking the blessing of Lord Amraeshwara.
Nirmala did the same for herself, after which she touched the flames and then placed her hands on Ujjwal’s face. Ujjwal was smiling.
Arvind then stretched his hand with a special mudra as the priest poured some Theertha (Divine water) into the mudra he made. The same was repeated for his family as they happily looked at the Lord for the last time before the temple helpers pushed them forward due to the high footfall.
"What did you ask from God, kid?" Arvind asked, ruffling Ujjwal’s hair with a jovial mood.
"Cricket bat," Ujjwal said innocently, with a hint of longing on his face that couldn’t be hidden.
Hearing this, Arvind also smiled. He felt like Ujjwal had grown up before he even knew it. He was already asking for sports equipment; although he did not know much about cricket, he had heard that it was a popular game nowadays. "Alright, I will buy it for you when we reach home."
"Hehehe," Ujjwal giggled, happily jumping around now that they were out of the temple complex. With the spacious temple grounds, his mother no longer had to carry him, allowing him to run freely.
The father and son were happy, but Nirmala put on a sarcastic expression as she said, "You spoil him too much. He should be going to school and studying properly. What is this cricket nonsense?"
The father, who heard this, felt helpless but stayed silent as he did not want to argue.
The source of this c𝓸ntent is freewebnøvel.coɱ.
*Ding!*
A high-pitched sound of utensils was heard as the Prasad carriage finally arrived, and the one serving the Prasad quickly mixed it properly to make it consistent.
"One by one, please!" the man said as the people quickly formed a line. The Kejriwal family was in the middle of the line as they patiently waited for their turn.
Fortunately, the queue was fast-moving, and within a few minutes, Arvind was able to get a bunch of plates and immediately shared them with his family. There were even some plates remaining with him, so he distributed them to the people behind his family.
"Thank you, sir," the people thanked him.
"No problem. It’s God’s blessing," he smiled as he replied.
The help Arvind provided caught the temple helpers’ attention, so without hesitation, he served a few extra scoops for the man.
Arvind and Nirmala took the prasad and found a place to sit and eat. Arvind carried two plates because the food was hot and his son couldn’t manage it himself.
Today’s prasad included sweet Kesari Bath, flavorful yoghurt rice, and spicy pulao.
Arvind scooped the Kesari Bath first. Before eating, he prayed to the Lord, made a gesture to his face, and then took a bite.
Nirmala followed suit, teaching her son the same.
Ujjwal enjoyed the Prasad immensely because it was delicious.
The prasad was quickly eaten, and Arvind disposed of the plates as all three washed their hands.
Finally, after performing an ashtanga namaskar near the Garudagamba, the family of three prepared to leave the temple.
*Thud!*
However, a man dressed in plain green clothes accidentally knocked over Arvind.
"Uh!" Arvind exclaimed, startled.
"I am sorry, sir. I did not notice. It was my mistake," the man quickly apologized.
Arvind, in a very good mood, took it in stride as he replied, "It’s alright."
He then took his wife and son and left the temple.
However, Arvind found it suspicious for a Muslim to enter the temple, as he figured out the identity of the man by the mascara he wore and the type of clothes he had on.
He looked back and saw that the man was wearing saffron-coloured cap.
"Oh, he’s dharmic," Arvind realized, quickly forgetting about the event.
The man who had knocked over Arvind quickly entered the temple premises, muttering chants in what seemed to be Arabic.
"For the glory of Allah, the fall of kafirs is imminent. I, being a divine soldier, will fulfil the oath," he kept mumbling to himself, his eyes growing increasingly wild and out of control.
He felt disgusted wearing the saffron cap as it went against everything he believed. Unfortunately, without the cap, he would look too suspicious.
Getting through security was hard enough, especially since nearly a year ago, all the belongings of devotees were checked when entering some of the famous temple premises.
Fortunately, with local connections, their group had kidnapped a family of four, including a son who worked in the temple’s security department. Through coercion, he was able to easily gain access to the temple premises.
As he approached, he saw the large number of idols atop the structure.
"Blasphemous! You all deserve to die," he muttered under his breath.
Seeing the happy and content expressions on everyone’s faces, he gritted his teeth. "The believers of false gods are indeed easily deceived, falling for false and temporary pleasure."
"Just a moment, and you can all repent in the arms of Allah," he declared.
Saying that he quickly moved forward, igniting a flame with a flint and immediately tossing it into the bag he was carrying.
"BOOM!"
The world stood still as a deafening explosion, no weaker than an earthquake, shook the Gopuram.
The man immediately turned into a mist of blood, evaporated by the high temperature before any part of him could reach the ground.
The surrounding people were blasted into thousands of pieces.
The Gopuram, unable to withstand the impact, immediately cracked, and pieces of art began to fall one by one.
The second-century BC temple, which had withstood the test of time, could not withstand the destruction caused by fanatical lunatics.
The Gopuram came crashing down, instantly crushing hundreds of people inside the temple.
Those further away were unaware of what had happened until they saw the Gopuram crumble before their eyes.
*BZZZZZZZZ*
Arvind, now at a safe distance from the temple, felt his ears ringing. Turning back, he was shocked to see the temple collapsed, with people rushing towards it to rescue those trapped inside.
"Ahhhhhh!"
He heard his son cry loudly, and tears welled up in Arvind’s eyes as he tightly hugged his son and wife. If they had delayed even a little longer, their family would have been no more.
After regaining control of his emotions, Arvind quickly took his family to a police officer who had arrived promptly after the incident.
"Sir, I might know who did this. I saw a man who looked very suspicious," Arvind explained urgently.
The police officer, his face desperate and eyes bloodshot with rage, immediately demanded, as if grasping onto a ray of hope, "Describe his appearance. Let me see who the $#%$$%$ is."
Similar incidents occurred in Nashik, Ujjain, and Bhubaneswar, all targeting major temples in those regions.
P.S. Alright I will read the comments after this chapter gets aired