I was 11 when I went on my first school trip to the furthest location from home in India – from Bengaluru to Talakadu/ Thalkad – 132kms and roughly 3 hours minus traffic each way. I recall this school trip being an incredibly special one as I saw a famous Lord Shiva temple half immersed in the whitest of sands. A deserted stone temple with exquisite architecture inside, which I managed to see from the steps that led to a window that were submerged in the sand.
The purpose of the school trip was to perhaps give us a break and educate us about the culture of the King of Mysore and the history of the local attractions. My mother used to tell me stories as a child, one of which was a story about the curse of the queen Alamelamma, who was betrayed by a King of the Wodeyar Dynasty over her valuable jewels. Some local folklore also states that she was betrayed and raped by the king who was often referred to as King Raja Wodeyar. 500 years ago, Queen Alamelamma set a curse upon the King and his kingdom stating in the regional language of Kannada –
Quoting the following from India TV Trending Desk (https://www.indiatvnews.com/buzz/news-mysuru-royal-baby-ends-400-year-old-curse-on-the-wodeyar-family-415914) –
”Talakadu Maralagali, Malangi Maduvagali, Wodeyar doreyarige makkalagadirali (May Talakadu be filled with sand and become a barren land/ May Malangi – that stretch of the river – turn into a whirlpool/ may the Wodeyars never have children).”
This is a curse on 500-year-old Wodeyar dynasty so they won’t be blessed with natural heirs. The curse dates back to 1612 when Wodeyars conquered the region and Alemalemma, the wife of outgoing king of Srirangapatna ran away with all the royal ornaments to Talakkad, a small town along the Kaveri river. Soldiers of the king chased her to get back the jewels but Alemalemma jumped into the river curving the Wodeyars.
I was mesmerised to be in the same place as a story my mother had told me. It felt like a rare and special moment in my life time. The sands were indeed white. Not a single drop of water nearby at the time and the entire land was barren with a few tall trees around.
As my fellow classmates played football and walked around in their groups, I was alone and began to explore the area. That’s when I saw this temple. It is said that every year the temple gets fully submerged into the sand and upon Shivaratri every year, it gets lifted for devotees to visit inside. I could see the white sands pouring into the quiet and dark temple floor through the windows that I could see through.
At the end of the trip, we were asked to head back to the school bus as it was time to go home. I was unaccompanied by any classmates during this trip so made my way back to the bus. I was the only one there when one of the teachers gave me a green apple and a packet of spicy fried snacks. The same was given to everyone. I have a love for these snacks so thought, let me save that for later. I shall have this apple now, although I’m not fond of apples.
I took a small bite of the apple when out of nowhere, I heard an old bearded mendicant walk on by the bus and beg for alms. The common behaviour towards beggars during my childhood was to ignore them as they come in many and children of my age would not have many valuable or useful possessions to offer. I decided to ignore this man. As he got closer and closer to my window side of the bus, I felt like the right thing to do would be to give him my snacks and apple. I was always taught not to give anyone something I had bitten into, but on this occasion, I remember saying a prayer to ask for forgiveness that I’m going to offer this bitten apple to a man who might more hungrier than I was. I gave him the apple and the snacks. He took them and joined his hands in gratitude and left.
I don’t remember the face of this mendicant but I could remember he was dressed in dirty white cotton traditional Indian clothing. He had unevenly shaded black and white strands of uncombed, ruffled curly hair. He was dark skinned and frail. He may have been a mendicant, but for a man to take a snack from a child, he must have been really desperate. I often told myself that God was testing me and that it was indeed God who approached me.
This felt like a positive encounter to me, as I felt proud of myself for sharing what little I had with someone who didn’t have anything.
Indioul 
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