Govardhan's Travels by P Sachidanandan

Author:P Sachidanandan [Anand]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9788184758962
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2013-02-27T00:00:00+00:00

64

The drumbeats and cries grew louder as Govardhan walked along, evidently towards the place from which they originated. His heart began to beat faster, but, for some reason, he kept walking through the jungle in the same direction. As he drew closer, he realized that the cries rose from devotees who were calling out ‘Jai!’, victory, to Kali-ma. The rhythm of the shouts and drumbeats quickened to a frenzy from time to time, then slowed down and stopped and started again after a while, gradually waxing faster and faster.

Suddenly, there was the sound of a gunshot, then a few more. The drumbeats stopped completely and the jungle fell so silent that even the chirping of the crickets stopped.

Walking through the silence, Govardhan came to what looked like a cave. He saw that it was a Kali temple. The torches still burning inside revealed that the devotees had fled abruptly, leaving behind their drums, the articles they had used for worship, the sacrificial animals, even the goddess herself. The sound of the guns must have frightened them.

The idol of Kali, glistening black, holding aloft her curved sword, with fierce eyes and a red tongue that stuck out, naked except for a garland of skulls, seemed to be staring at the sacrificial lock made of iron planted in front of her. Goats’ heads were piled up in a pit to the side of the lock. A goat that had been caught in the lock and could not extricate its head struggled wildly, its limbs flailing the air. A large number of goats stood awaiting their turn. The odour of turmeric powder and burning incense enveloped everything, while the torches flickered wildly.

At the start of the ritual, drums were beaten as each goat was led into the lock. It was believed that the mounting rhythm and the shouts of the devotees would drown the cries of the goats and erase any pity the spectators might feel or any fear the man who wielded the sword might experience. Before the animal was trapped in the sacrificial lock, it was given a banana to eat and some water to drink from an earthen pot, but since both these were only rituals, neither was properly executed. Bananas from which just a bite had been taken were scattered everywhere. Once the animal was locked into the device, the drumming and the cries of ‘Jai!’ would rise to a crescendo. At the climax, the man with the sword would raise the weapon, the animal’s head would roll down into the pit and the drums would fall silent. Slashing off a small bit of flesh from the writhing body and collecting a little blood in an earthen pot, the man who had killed the animal would run quickly towards the goddess as if he feared the flesh and blood would lose their warmth. A row of earthen pots was lined up in front of the idol. The blood was still warm in some of them, while it was cold or starting to clot in others.

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