After the barking and the rampage, a grand feast was held for the guests. Vallavaraiyan did not enjoy the feast. His body was tired; His heart was troubled. However, his friend Kanthamaran, who was beside him, proudly told him who the other guests were.
Apart from Pazhuvertaraiyar and Sambuvaraiyar, Malapadi Thennavan Mazhavaraiyar had come there; The landlord of Kundrathur had come; Mummudi Pallavaraiyar had come. Kanthamaran whispered in his friend's ear that he was the name of Thandongi Kalingarayar, Vanangamudi Muniyaraiyar, Devasenathipathi Poovaraiyar, Anjatha Singamutharaiyar, Rettakkudai Rajaliar, Kolli Malai Perunila Velar and others. These dignitaries are not ordinary; Nor are they easily put together. Almost everyone is a chieftain; Or those who earned the respect of a chieftain by their heroic deeds. Raja or Raja was known as Araiyar in those days.
The title Araiyar was added to the petty kings and those of equal importance as the feudatories. There was also a tradition of adding Araiyar only to their respective places.
In those days, petty kings were not those who had earned the title of 'king' only by birth and lived in palace luxuries. Only brave warriors who are willing to fight in the forefront of battle can maintain their sovereignty. Therefore each one of them will have fought on many battlefields and received fame and wounds. Today, all of them were under the rule of Pazhaiyarai Sundara Chola emperor and were ruling within their respective limits. Some also held positions in the Chola empire as officials of a high order.
Vallavaraiyan should have been justifiably happy to see all these important Chola empire dignitaries in one place. But there was no joy in his heart.
The thought often occurred to him, "Why are so many people gathered here?" Some vague doubts arose in his mind.
It was with this confusion in his mind that Vallavaraiyan went to sleep in the special place Kanthamaran had prepared for him. Since there were many guests, Vallavaraiyan had only an open hall in one corner of the balcony of the huge mansion.
"You are very tired; So lie down and sleep peacefully. After observing the other guests, I will come and lie down next to you," said Kanthamaran and left.
*
As soon as he lay down, Vandhiyathevan's eyes rolled around. Very soon Nitra Devi possessed him. But what's the point? There is a mind which even Nidra Devi cannot control. Even when the body is motionless and the eyes are closed, the thoughts that are embedded in the depths of the mind evolve into dreams. Many events and experiences occur in that dream world, meaningless and irrational.
From somewhere far away came the howling of a fox. One fox became ten foxes, a hundred foxes, and howled loudly! Howling, they came closer and closer to Vandhiyathevan. In the pitch darkness, the foxes eyes shone like tiny embers of fire and approached him. Vandhiyathevan looked as if he could turn the other way and run away. In the other direction he saw ten, hundred, a thousand dogs galloping up in one herd, barking in one herd. The eyes of the hounds shone like sparks of fire.
Vandhiyathevan trembled thinking what would happen to him if he was caught between the foxes and the hounds. Fortunately, there was a temple ahead. He ran into the open temple and locked the door. Looking back, I saw that it was a Kali temple. A priest came out from behind the statue of Kalimata, whose mouth was wide open. He had a terrible scythe in his hand. "Have you come? Come!" and the priest came nearer, nearer, nearer, nearer.
"What is the history of the royal family in which you were born? For how many years have your tribe ruled? Tell me the truth," said the priest.
"Vallavaraiyar of the Varnar tribe ruled for 300 years; During my father's time, we lost the kingdom because of the Vaidumparayars," said Vandhiyathevan.
"Then you are not a worthy victim! Run away!" said the priest.
Suddenly, Kannaperumal appeared in the place of Kalimata. Two women with garlands of flowers in their hands came and danced singing Andal pasuram. When Vallavaraiyan was enraptured by this, he heard the song behind him, "We saw, we saw, we saw, we saw the beautiful ones" and turned around. The song was sung by Azhvarkadiyan Nambi. No! Azhvarkadiyan's head sang! Only the head was placed on the altar!
Unable to bear to see this scene, Vallavaraiyan turned around; He bumped into the pillar. The dream dissipated; His eyes opened. But he had a vision that bound dream and consciousness together.
On the opposite side of where he was lying, a head was visible on the compound wall of Kadampoor palace. It is the head of that Azhvarkadiyan Nambi. This time it was not a dream, it was not an illusion. Because no matter how long you looked, the head was there. It was not just the head, but it was easy to guess that there was a body behind the head. Because Azhvarkadiyan's hands were holding the edge of the wall. And he was carefully peering beneath the wall into the interior. What was he looking at so attentively... There must be some trickery in this. Azhvarkadiyan could not have come there with good intentions. He has come to do evil with some evil intention. Is it not your duty as Kanthamaran's best friend to prevent him from doing so? Was he to lie idle without preventing the harm that might befall the house of those who had kindly fed him?
Vallavaraiyan jumped up. He took out a knife attached to the sheath he had taken off at his side and tucked it into his belt. He walked in the direction where Azhvarkadiyan's head was seen.
Wasn't Vallavaraiyan lying in a corner of the balcony of the palace? When we started and walked towards the wall, we had to walk, overlap, and round and round the pavilion peaks, platforms, vimana minarets and pillars that adorned the dome. After walking like this for some distance, suddenly Vallavaraiyan heard a voice coming from somewhere and hesitated. He grabbed hold of a pillar and stood behind it and peeped out. Ten or twelve men were sitting downstairs in a narrow courtyard surrounded by high walls on three sides. The tall walls blocked out the light of half the afternoon. But the lamp burned in an iron lamp fixed in one of the walls gave some light.
They were all the dignitaries he had seen at dinner that night; The petty kings and the officials of the Chola empire. They must have been there in the middle of the night to discuss something very important. What they are doing and what they are saying is what Azhvarkadiyan is observing so intently from the wall. There is no doubt that Azhvarkadiyan is very wicked and clever. From where he is, one can see the people gathered below; You can hear them very well. But those below cannot see Azhvarkadiyan. Azhvarkadiyan has somehow found such a place! He's smart; No doubt. But all his cleverness will not work with Vandhiyathevan of this Varnar tribe! The disguised man came holding the Vaishnava by the hand. But if he did, he would not be able to approach the wall without attracting the attention of those gathered below. There may be some danger in walking around to see them. He remembered what Sambuvaraiyar had said, "He should not have come here today!" They have all come here to discuss some important matter, and it is obvious that they do not want others to know about their idea. If they suddenly saw him, wouldn't they suspect him? Before he could tell them about Azhvarkadiyan, he would jump out of the wall and run away. Therefore, all that remains is suspicion. What is the answer to the question, "Why did you come here?" Kanthamaran's situation can only be embarrassing. Aha! There Kanthamaran is sitting on one side of this crowd. He too must have joined the counsel of this crowd. If you ask Kanthamaran in the morning, you will know everything.
At that time, the covered palanquin placed next to the crowd attracted Vandhiyathevan's attention. Aa! Isn't this the palanquin that accompanied Pazhuvertaraiyar and followed his elephant? The woman inside, the woman who lifted the curtain for a moment and looked out, was she in any part of the mansion now? The old man didn't even send her to the harem. This is a dilemma if some older men marry younger women. Doubt buys their lives. They do not want to leave their young wife even for a moment. Perhaps, even now Pazhuvertaraiyar's young wife is in this palanquin? Aha! Look at the fate of this brave warrior! At this age, he is trapped by a young woman and becomes a slave to her! She is not Rathi, Menaka or Rambha! He had not forgotten the feeling of disgust he felt when Vandhiyathevan looked at her for a moment. I don't know what this heroic Pazhuvertaraiyar has for such a woman. Even more miraculous is that Azhvarkady is madness. Perhaps it is because this palanquin is kept here that he too is waiting on the wall! But what do we know about his relationship with her? She could be his sister or his girlfriend. Pazhuvertaraiyar could have taken her away by force! He is capable of doing so. So Azhvarkadiyan must be looking for an opportunity to see her and talk to her! What has come to us about this? You can go to bed without talking.
Just as the young man had thus decided, he heard his name mentioned in the conversation below. He began to observe a little more closely.
"Wasn't there a child who was a friend of your son? Where is he lying? Let him not hear any of our words. It must be remembered that he was a servant of the Northern Madanda Nayaka. No one else should know about it before the time comes when our plan is confirmed. Even if the child is suspected of having some information, he should not be sent out of this fortress. It would be better to get him out of work once and for all..."
Viewers can guess how Vandhiyathevan felt when he heard this. But he did not move. He made sure to listen to them completely.
Who is the hero of the North? He was the eldest son of emperor Sundara Chola. Next up was the crown prince to ascend the Chola throne. What objection do they have to working for him? What he didn't know was what they were going to say?
At that time Vallavaraiyan heard Kanthamaran interceding for his friend.
"Vandhiyathevan is sleeping peacefully in the upper corner of the hall. He would not hear the crowd. Nor does he interfere in matters that do not concern him. Even if he learns something, it won't do you any harm; I am responsible for that!" said Kanthamaran.
"I'm glad you have so much faith in him. But none of us knew him; That is why I warned him, that what we are going to talk about is the right of a great empire. Even if a word comes out due to carelessness, it can cause terrible consequences. All of you should remember this!" said Pazhuvertaraiyar.