Realm of the Goddess (18 page)

“Callie...come here and take a look at this,” Shiv called out. He was pointing his flashlight at something on the wall. I went over and pointed my pendant to the same spot. What I saw rendered me speechless. The entire wall was covered in drawings, scenes of battle alive with vibrant colors. They depicted the gods and goddesses of ancient lore in battle with the demons.

“Who do you think did these, Shiv?” I asked breathlessly, stunned by the vivid details.

“I don’t know. I’ve never heard of anything like this. It couldn’t be the locals...they were too afraid to come near.”

“Well,” I said, running my fingers along the wall, “it must be really old, so maybe things were different back then.”

“When we get back we’re going to have to ask the Elders about this,” Shiv said, walking alongside the wall until it ended and a new one began. I followed closely, shining my light just above his head.

I realized that the drawings were divided into panels, each depicting a particular scene. Most of the stories they told were old, familiar ones from my childhood. Here was Brahma creating the world, populating it with plants, animals and insects. In a next panel he was giving them seven gifts: the sense of touch, taste, smell, sight, hearing, the power to move and the power to reproduce. In another he was riding a lotus boat, enjoying the wonders of his own creation.

I moved on, and now I was looking at a drawing of Brahma dividing himself and creating Saraswati, the Goddess of Knowledge. Together they created humans and endowed them with the seven gifts, plus an additional one, the power of reason.

“This is so amazing,” I said, still unable to process what I was seeing. “I can’t believe this has been here for centuries and no one has discovered this place.”

I walked ahead, stepping carefully over a skull. As I shone my light on the next panel I saw the Immortals granting boons to humans. The humans in turn worshipped them, made sacrifices to them, sometimes animals, sometimes young girls. I shuddered to think that there was a time when killing an innocent child was considered an act of worship.

I moved on, and there was Mahisha begging to be made Immortal. Then he was depicted in all his wrath after his request was denied. He hadn’t always been the bad guy. He had spent years in prayer and meditation, all so that he could be granted a boon. In his eyes it must have been the Immortals’ arrogance that prevented them from giving him what he felt he deserved. The ultimate betrayal. I looked at the next few panels in horror as they told the story of Mahisha after he had turned into a demon. He had unleashed his massive army upon unsuspecting mortals, men, women and children alike. As his terrible deeds grew, so did his might.

I turned a corner with Shiv close behind me now. Neither of us spoke. The panels on this wall told the story of the trinity, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, as they met to discuss the problem of Mahisha’s growing power. It told of the creation of Kali as she sprang forth from the fire poured from the mouths of the gods in anger. She was born with multiple arms, in each of which the gods put the weapons with which she would destroy Mahisha.

I looked long and hard at the drawing. The goddess was glorious in her power and beauty. Her eyes blazed with purpose. She sat tall and erect on her lion as she rode into battle, ready to destroy evil, prepared to defend humanity. I continued down along the wall, watching as Kali fought valiantly against Mahisha and he escaped each of her attempts to destroy him, first by changing into a lion, then a man, then a buffalo. We had come to the last panel and stopped in front of it. As I studied it, I realized that this must be the only account of what had really happened in that battle. For centuries it had been believed that Kali had cut off the head of the buffalo-demon, as Mahisha was usually referred to. All the ancient religious texts and the stories that I’d heard as a child told the tale of Mahisha’s destruction at the hands of a most powerful goddess. This definitely shed a different light on things. It was all becoming clearer.

“Callie, I think we should keep moving. Judging by the skulls, I think we’re lucky we’re still alive.” I couldn’t agree more.

We kept moving. The chamber narrowed into another seemingly endless stretch of tunnel. When we finally reached the exit, it was dark. Thankfully, because the trees were not quite as dense as in other parts of the forest, the moonlight and the stars provided some light. It was enough to see the hill in the distance and the temple perched on top of it. A sudden burst of energy made us both run up to where steps had been carved into the hillside.

“I can’t believe it’s held up so well,” Shiv said when we reached the top.

I could only stare up at the spires rising majestically into the starlit sky.

“I can’t believe they had the tools to do such intricate carvings such a long time ago,” I said, completely awestruck.

As we walked up to the main entrance I saw the traditional mandala design on the floor, a square intersecting a circle. I knew that each point of intersection had a special significance. I vaguely remembered a story my dad had told me of how the mandala became so crucial to the design of the temple.

I tried to remember the details. It was something to do with Shiva sweating in the midst of a fierce battle. A drop of his sweat fell on the ground and from it sprang a tremendous demon that proceeded to destroy everything in its path. To stop him, several gods had to join forces. In fact, once they had overcome him, they had to sit on different parts of his body so that he could not rise again. This became the basis of the belief that a temple had to be constructed in a particular way so as not to allow any evil to enter.

Nice theory, I thought. Clearly it didn’t work so well or there wouldn’t be demons running amok right now. 

We looked up at the ornate arched double doors. We tried to open them but they wouldn’t budge. There was no lock or anything, so I wasn’t sure what was keeping them closed. I looked around for any hidden latches but found nothing. I tried to channel the Relic Hunter, one of my mom’s guilty pleasures. She would have found a way to get in by now.

“Shiv,” I called out over my shoulder, “I’m going to look at the carvings again and see if there’s some sort of a clue there.”

“Okay, Callie,” Shiv replied, walking away. “I’m going to check for another way in. The front can’t be the only entrance.” I barely caught the last of his words as disappeared around the back.

I turned my attention to the carvings. They seemed ordinary, typical of any Kali temple around the world. They depicted Kali on her lion, with a snake wrapped around one of her six arms. Further down the wall she was surrounded by the Immortals who had created her. Then a series of depictions as each of the gods gave her a gift: the lotus, the bow and arrows, the trident, the thunderbolt, the discus and finally...the sword. I looked at the sword with a longing that started deep in my gut and blossomed. If only I could get my hands on that sword, all my problems would be solved. I had to get in somehow. Not knowing what else to do, I kept staring intently at the carvings, hoping to glean some information by osmosis. I must have stared at them too long, because suddenly I thought I saw something move. I blinked and shook my head, trying to clear my vision. I looked at the carving again. Nothing had changed. I was looking at Kali with the snake around her arm when it happened again. This time I was sure of it. The snake had blinked. That was what had caught my attention earlier. I stood frozen in front of the carving. Was I finally losing my mind? Not that a snake with blinking eyes was the strangest thing I’d encountered recently. 

“Shiv,” I called out, sounding only slightly panicked. “I think you should come here...now.”

He must have heard the panic in my voice threatening to take over, because he was at my side in a flash.

“What happened, Callie?” he asked breathlessly.

“Look at the carving...right there.” I had to know if I’d really seen the snake blink at me or if I was stark, raving mad.

“What am I looking at, Callie?” He looked at me, then back at the carving. “It’s Kali and her weapons and...oh my god...did that snake just blink at me?”

I smiled. I was still sane. “Phew, I was worried there for a moment...thought I was losing it. So you saw it too?”

“Umm, yes, Callie, it’s kind of hard to miss that. What do you think it is?”

“I don’t know...maybe it’s watching us...Wait, Shiv, I don’t remember much about snakes from my parents. The only thing I do remember is that Manasa, the snake goddess, was supposed to be the daughter of Lord Shiva. Is that true? Hmm...but what did she have to do with Kali?” I mused, absentmindedly stroking the carving.

Suddenly we heard a rumble, quiet at first, then becoming louder. I couldn’t quite tell where it was coming from, but then I realized it was coming from inside the temple.

“What was that, Shiv?”

“I don’t know, but there’s definitely something inside.”

The rumbling stopped. We still had no way of getting in. I turned my attention back to Kali and the snake on her arm. I laid my hand on the cool stone surface and waited. Nothing. I wasn’t really sure what I expected to happen. Maybe a way in would have been nice. I figured if the snake was guarding the temple, then maybe it would let me in. I was an avatar of Kali, after all. Still nothing. A thought occurred to me. I looked closer at the etching of Kali to confirm. Yes, she was wearing the skull pendant around her neck. I put my hand on it. Again nothing. I was about to remove my hand when I felt a strange sensation. A slight tingling, almost imperceptible, but definitely there. I felt my own pendant getting warm.

“Callie, your pendant...it’s glowing,” Shiv said softly. I looked down at it and saw the soft amber light emanating from it.

“I feel something, Shiv. I think...” Before I could finish speaking, there was another loud rumble. This time it sounded like thunder, but really close to us. I kept my hand on Kali’s pendant and when I looked at the snake on her arm it was glowing too.

I turned to look at Shiv, but he had walked up to the double doors at the entrance and was staring at them.

“Callie...” he called out. “The doors are open. Hurry up, I don’t know how long they’ll stay that way.”

I was afraid to take off my hand, but I had to take the chance. I ran over to the doors and we both entered at the same time. As soon as we crossed the threshold into the cool darkness, the doors closed with a loud bang that echoed throughout the interior of the cavernous temple. It seemed to be a great deal bigger than it looked from outside. I had a brief moment of panic when I realized we might not have a way of getting out, but that soon passed when my eyes adjusted to the darkness.

Chapter Eighteen

As I entered
the temple, the cool darkness enveloped me, offering a welcome relief from the hot, humid air outside. Beautifully carved relief panels adorned the walls. I walked toward the inner sanctum that housed the statue of Kali. No matter how many times I had been to these temples, it never got old. The sense of awe was always there, humility that people thousands of years ago created such beauty by hand without the help of any modern technology. 

Shiv and I silently took in the wonder of what stood before us. In the center of the enormous hall stood a statue of Kali. It was big, a little taller than me, but shorter than Shiv, who stood at almost six feet. It was adorned with the traditional jewels and garments that could be found on any statue in temples throughout India. Then, just as Shiv and I began to walk toward it, we heard a growl. I looked around and to my surprise I saw that standing all along the wall in a wide circle were statues of monkeys. Not small, cute ones like back in the jungle. These ones looked ferocious, like they could rip your throat out. Or bash your skull in. I couldn’t help thinking of the skulls we had seen in the cave. But they were statues, not live monkeys.

I looked at Shiv in surprise. “Were those there when we came in?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know, I didn’t notice them until now. Do you think that’s where the growl came from?”

“I don’t think so.” A second later I wanted to take back my words. Out of the corner of my eye I saw movement but before I could check to see what it was, the statues came alive around us. My blood ran cold as I watched, my mind working almost in slow motion as it registered what was happening. Shiv looked at me, and my terror was reflected in his eyes as we realized that we were surrounded by monkeys that didn’t look particularly pleased with our presence. Also, we were trapped inside the temple with no way out.

I could feel my pendant beginning to get warm. A tingling started to travel from my gut, up my body and down my right arm. I raised my arm and brought my hand closer to my face to see what was happening. The monkey to my immediate right must have noticed the movement, because it growled, low and menacingly. Then it charged. My response was automatic. I didn’t hesitate or think about my action. I just let the energy shoot out of my arm with a blast of light and the monkey was down. I had just enough time to see the entire herd closing in on us and I knew this was the end. But then the earth shook and we all froze. Me, Shiv and the monkeys. A loud roar thundered through the temple. It felt as if the very walls trembled from the sound. I closed my eyes in terror and when I opened them I saw Hanuman standing before us. He stood over seven feet tall this time. His tail was draped around his right arm. His large black eyes seemed to see deep into the soul of me.

“We meet again,” he said, in a deep rumble that echoed through the temple. “And you have just killed one of my own.” I looked around at the monkeys, who were now prostrate on the ground before their master. I was in shock. I had no idea where that blast came from and I certainly had no idea that I could kill with it.

“Forgive me, Lord Hanuman. I...I don’t know what happened...my hand...” My words trailed off as I surveyed the damage I had caused. I could not look at the monkey that lay lifeless on the ground. The walls behind where it had been standing had scorch marks on them. This was insane. The pedant had gone from just giving me a warning glow to turning me into a killing machine. I turned to Lord Hanuman, desperate for his forgiveness.

“I had no choice. I thought they were going to kill us. Please...can’t you do something?” I rushed over to where the monkey lay and gently put my hand on its face.

Hanuman walked over to us. He placed his right hand on the monkey’s forehead. A soft light emanated from his hand into the monkey’s body and in just a moment the its eyes fluttered open. As it saw the face of its lord and master, it rose to its haunches and then touched Hanuman’s feet in an age-old gesture of respect and gratitude. Tears of remorse sprang to my eyes as I realized what I had done.

“It seems that you are not yet in control of your powers,” Hanuman said, rising and standing before me. “It will bring you much pain and regret if you do not master them soon.”

And with that he disappeared in a cloud of dust and wind as quickly as he had come. The monkeys reverted back to their statue forms.

I looked at Shiv, who still seemed to be in shock. “So...you have a pretty deadly power there,” he said, nodding toward my hand.

“I honestly don’t know where that came from,” I said, looking at my palm to see if there were any burn marks. Nothing. It was as if fire had not just come shooting out of it.

“I think my connection with the pendant is getting stronger somehow.” I couldn’t think of any other plausible explanation. The one good thing about this debacle was that finally I felt like I had an actual power. I’d thought that I was going to have to develop some serious ninja skills to pull this off. I looked at the monkeys and felt a lump in my throat. It was hard to believe that they could have been here for thousands of years.

“It looks like they were just protecting the temple for Kali...or you,” Shiv said, pulling me toward him. He put his arms around me and held me as I sobbed softly into his shirt. I wasn’t really sure why I was crying except that I was so relieved we had made it here alive. After the sobbing had subsided, I wiped the tears on my sleeve and took a deep, shaky breath. Shiv stepped back and studied my face.

“That was something else, wasn’t it?” he said.

“I can’t believe we finally made it...in one piece,” I said with a watery smile.

“Well, I guess now we start looking for the sword,” he replied.

We walked over to the statue of Kali. She was all arms. She was magnificent, proud and powerful, black hair flowing down her back in long tresses. Eyes blazing with anger, dark as the night. This was no demure goddess; her beauty was not traditional. She represented other strengths, fierce protectiveness, fearlessness and above all a desire to fight against evil. Her beauty was the fire in her eyes, the anger in her grimace. She inspired fear in her enemies and loyalty in her devotees. She held all the weapons that had been given to her by the gods. One of them was a sword. Of course, the weapons were usually not real, but rather replicas. However, since we were in this particular temple, I wanted to think that this sword was the one. I touched it and pried it out of her statue hands. Despite my wishful thinking, this one was made of wood, too light to do any damage at all, other than a few splinters maybe.

“Any luck there?” Shiv asked wryly from the other side of the statue.

“A girl can hope, can’t she?” I quipped. I walked around the statue toward another exit. I peered around the doorframe. A short hallway connected this larger room to another.

“Shiv, I’m going to check out that other room, okay?” I called over my shoulder.

“I think I’ll keep looking around in here,” he replied.

I went quickly down the hallway and entered the room on the right. It was much smaller than the main hall I had just left. There were no statues here. Instead I saw a few brass pots covered in cobwebs sitting on the floor by the wall. On one wall there were little indentations. Curious, I went closer to take a better look. There was a tiny object in one of them. At first I couldn’t tell what it was because it was shrouded in cobwebs. Suppressing my disgust, I brushed away as much as I could and peered at it.

It was a ring. A beautiful silver ring in the shape of an eternal knot. As I held it and tried to figure out what it was doing here, I felt my surroundings fade away. I blinked in confusion, and when I opened my eyes, I was still in the room. Except it was bright and clean with sunlight streaming in from tiny little windows set high close to the ceiling. There were four young women in the room, but none of them seemed aware of my presence. They wore pretty yellow saris with red borders running along the bottom. Each had a garland of jasmine flowers twisted in her braid. One of the girls stood by a small fire, where she was pouring heated milk into small vessels. Each of the other girls then took one, picked up a small platter of sweets, fruits and nuts and walked out of the room. The one who remained sat by the fire for some time. Then she looked around furtively before reaching into the folds of her sari and producing a ring. She put it on her middle finger, admired it, then changed her mind and put it on her ring finger. Suddenly she looked up and I froze, afraid that she would see me. But although her gaze was pointed in my direction, she saw right through me.

Then a couple of the other girls came back. I decided to return to the larger room. I went down the same hallway, but this time it was clean and well lit by sconces that lined the walls. I looked down at my hand as I walked into the large hall. I was still holding the ring. Somehow I knew that I was having this vision because of it. I wanted to know what was going on and felt that I was witnessing this because something important was going to happen. I stood by the entrance. The girl stood in front of Kali, pouring water over the statue and washing it with slow, careful strokes. Then she dried it with a cloth and put garlands of marigolds around Kali’s neck. She carefully placed the tumblers of milk and the platter of sweets on the ground in front of her. Then she sat on her haunches and proceeded to create a
rangoli
pattern on the floor. I watched as she made intricate designs with different colored powders, all the while humming a pretty tune. I put the ring in my pocket and instantly everything around me transformed. I still stood in the same temple, but now it was dark and musty. Shiv was still looking around in every nook and cranny.

“Shiv, you’ll never guess what happened,” I called out.

He came bounding back from the other side of the room. I held out the ring. I sort of expected that I would have another vision, but I didn’t. Shiv looked at me in confusion.

“A ring? Where’d you find it?”

“In the other room. But it was so weird...as soon as I picked it up, I had a kind of vision.”

I told him what I’d seen.

“So you think they were the priestesses of Kali?”

“Yes...think about it. Who else could they be?” I wish I could know what time I had been transported to. From their attire, I wasn’t able to hazard a guess. Women still wore saris like that.

“The vision stopped when I put the ring in my pocket. I thought I would see it again when I touched it.” I was a little worried that I might never be able to get it back. I didn’t know why, but it seemed important.

“So maybe it only shows you what it wants you to see and when it wants,” Shiv tried to reason.

I nodded. That made sense for now. “Have you had any luck here?” I asked. Even though I wanted to find out more about the priestesses, I knew we had to find the sword quickly and get back.

“Not really. I was thinking maybe there was some hidden panel or compartment or something, but if there is I haven’t found it.” He shrugged. “I’m just going to keep looking.”

I decided to return to the room. Maybe I would find some clue there. I walked back down the hallway and entered the room again. I took out the ring and stroked it absentmindedly as I walked around. Suddenly everything shifted and I was in another time once again. This must have been a different day, though, because the girls were not wearing the same saris. They were preparing for some ritual; I could smell incense and there were trays with garlands of marigold and other ones with sweets. Once again, all the girls left except for the same one as last time. But this time she put the ring on her finger and went to the wall farthest away from where I was standing. There was cloth hanging over a part of it like a curtain. To my surprise, she pushed it aside to reveal a small opening, just large enough for her to slip through. I ran to the spot where she had disappeared and followed her out.

After I squeezed through the opening, I found myself outside. I stood in a beautiful garden, surrounded by blooming marigolds and jasmine. To my left was a shaded corner where the trees made a little canopy, providing shelter from the sun. That’s where I found the girl. But she wasn’t alone. A man sat on the grass with her and held her hands in his. I was pretty sure I was witnessing a secret rendezvous, because according to what I had read about the priestesses, they were celibate. They devoted their entire lives to the worship of Kali, protecting her sword and guarding the temple. But of course that didn’t mean that they weren’t subject to the same desires as the rest of us. This priestess had obviously fallen in love.

The man began to caress her, running his hands up and down her arms. Then he brought his face close to hers and kissed her. She responded timidly, but then as his hands became bolder she pushed away and said something to him. He smiled and then continued the same way. This time she pushed him away a little harder and his face darkened with anger. He grabbed her by the arms and shook her. I could hear her protests getting louder and looked around, hoping that the others would hear her. But we were at the at the back of the temple in the far end of the garden, and I didn’t think they would hear her. I had to do something.

I shouted, knowing it was futile. I ran to them and tried to pry him off her, but my hands just touched air. She was crying by now, desperately begging him to let her go. I didn’t understand the words, but I didn’t have to. It was clear she was afraid of what he was going to do to her. She fought him, at one point managing to scratch his face with her fingernails. As they raked across his cheek, leaving a bloody trail, he began to transform. Right in front of me his face changed into something grotesque, his thin lips bared, exposing sharp teeth. He grabbed her and threw her on the ground as if she was nothing more than a doll. He ripped off her sari and then began to shred her blouse until she was exposed. Suddenly everything disappeared and I stood in the middle of a patch of jungle that was overgrown with vines and grass. Where the trees had made a canopy, now there were thorny branches growing into each other. The ring was on the ground by my feet. I must have dropped it and somehow been expelled from the vision. I had to go back. I had to help her.