Author: Ravi Shankar Etteth
Publisher: Penguin/Viking
Year: 2002
Language: English
Pages: 299
ISBN/UPC (if available): 0670049387
Description
Rich, seductive, and at times highly erotic, this spell bounding novel full of mystery, magic and wonder marks the debut of a singular new literary voice.
Swati Varma is one of modern Delhi’s more blessed inhabitants. Then one brilliant morning, when the world seemed cleansed by the coming of the rains, the unthinkable happens: his pregnant wife is killed in a road accident. Devastated, Swati decided to make the pilgrimage back to the place of his birth, Panayur, in the state of Kerala, and scatter his beloved’s ashes in the sacred waters of the Papanasini river.
Returning to this long-forgotten world, he is reunited with Antara, a childhood companion and now caretaker of the crumbling, ghost-filled palace that was his home. For Panayur –seemingly still free from the religious turmoil that threatens so much of the country –was once a kingdom, and Swati is the direct descendant of its last king. As the two friends talk, sharing memories and exchanging secrets, thousands of miles away Vel- a cousin Swati never knew he had-sets out on a quest for the truth about his family that will take him from America to Berlin and, ultimately, to Panayur.
And so begins an extraordinary and healing journey. One that will lead both Swat and Vel Back through the cruel and bloody, vibrant and myth-filled history of the kings of Panayur to the legend that lies at its heart- the legend of the tiger by the river…
Rich, seductive, and at times highly erotic, this spellbinding novel full of mystery, magic and wonder marks the debut of a singular new literary voice.
The Spell of Forewarning used by Swati Varma, the last king of Panayur, before he started his journey home.
May the goddess Neeli manifest herself through the symbols and materials of this spell.
Grind one nazhi of rice from this year’s
Harvest into a fine white powder. Mix
Dip the athame into the paste and draw a
pentagram on a black marble altar. Light
four lamps at each corner of the altar: north,
east, south, west. Keep one dried date-palm
nut each on the eastern and western
corners; use a coral in the north and a jade
in the south.
Slice a lemon in two, rinse it with turmeric water. In the middle of the pentagram, hold the lemon, plunge the sacrificial knife into its heart, and turn the knife clockwise. Keep the little finger of the left palm pointing cast while rotating the lemon between the thumb and the forefinger. Let the red juice of the sacrificial fruit fall upon the ground. If there is thunder in the west, a great loss is predicted. If a gecko chirps from the eastern side of the house, a homecoming is foretold.
The name of the goddess Neeli be blessed.