Azhwarkkadiyan, after meeting the young prince, went to the house of his elder brother, Eesan Sivapattar. His house was very close to the Vadameyyattrali Sivan temple, at a distance of about half a katham from the palace. If one traveled from the Chola palace to the Vadameyyattrali temple, one could, in a way, observe the expanse of the city of Pazhaiyarai and its other unique features.

Azhwarkkadiyan noticed that the celebrations for Krishna Jayanthi had more or less subsided. As he walked through the residential quarters, he observed women gathered in the corners of their homes, speaking to each other with anger and agitation. All these women had, with great enthusiasm, adorned the necks of their husbands or sons with garlands of vanji flowers and sent them off to the Eelam war front. In the heroic battles waged by the Chola armies in all four directions, not a single house was spared from sending at least one warrior to attain the hero’s heaven. Now, these very women were murmuring and speaking in discontent. Thirumalaiyappan saw this and wondered anxiously what strange fate all this would lead to.

By the time he reached the Vadameyyattrali temple, it was quite dark. This was the temple sung by Appar Peruman. In the time of that great saint, Jain monks had brought artificial hills and placed them around the temple, carving out caves in those hills. In those man-made mountain caves, Digambara Jain monks sat in meditation. To remind us of this, there still exists a village near Pazhaiyarai called Muzhaiyur.

When Appar Peruman heard of the glory of Pazhaiyarai and came there, the Jain caves had completely hidden the Sivan temple. Appar, realizing this through his spiritual wisdom, was deeply grieved. He petitioned the minor king who, as a representative of the Pallavas, was then ruling the Chola land. The king demolished a portion of those artificial caves and cleared them away. Inside, a small Sivan temple was revealed. Appar, in ecstasy, sang his hymns.

Later, the temple was expanded and beautified by the Chola kings, and a hall of learning was constructed. Yet, even now, the temple was surrounded by those caves, forming a wall like a prakara. There was only one gopura entrance to enter the temple; there was no other... There was no entrance there. It would be easy to reach Isana Sivapattar’s house by entering the temple’s prakaram through the gopura entrance. Otherwise, one would have to take a long detour.

Thus, in order to reach his elder brother’s house by this shortcut, Thirumalai entered through the gopura entrance. Inside, he saw a few devotees standing near the sanctum. They appeared to be members of a troupe, dressed as Krishna and Balarama. “Aha! How did these people end up here?” he wondered, but before he could finish the thought, Isana Sivapattar hurriedly came out from within the temple. Just then, he grabbed Thirumalai, who had just entered through the gopura, by the hand and quickly pulled him outside.

“Anna!