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! What is this?” asked Azhwarkadiyan.

“I’ll tell you, Thirumalai! From now on, let all our dealings remain outside the temple. You are a heretic, a blasphemer of Shiva; do not set foot inside this sacred abode of Shiva! Do you understand? I have tolerated much. But today, what you said in front of the great queen—I can no longer bear it. If you want, come to the house, fill your big belly, and leave! But do not set foot inside the temple! If you do, I will become Sandesvara Nayanar himself!”

So saying, Isana Sivapattar grabbed Thirumalai by the neck, gave him a forceful shove, and slammed the temple door shut. “Anna! Anna!…” Thirumalai began to say something, but Sivapattar did not listen for even a moment. He locked the temple door from the inside and left.

“Oh ho! So that’s how it is?” muttered Azhwarkadiyan to himself. He stood there for a while. Then, circling the temple—including the Jain shrines—two or three times, he walked around deliberately to the left, lest it be considered a clockwise pradakshina. He saw that all the entrances to the Jain shrines, which were built in a circular fashion, were tightly closed. Afterwards, he went to Isana Sivapattar’s house. Thirumalai, who was always ready with a jest, was especially dear to the priest’s wife. Speaking to her with even more humor than usual, he ate his fill of the Shiva temple’s prasadam, and then lay down on the raised platform at the entrance.

He recalled a sight he had seen on the first day, when he had come along the banks of the Kudamuruti river. He heard the sound of horses galloping rapidly towards him from the opposite direction, and quickly hid himself behind a dense bamboo thicket nearby.

The first horse came running as if in a wild frenzy. It was drenched, dripping wet; whether it was from sweat or from having plunged through the floodwaters of the river, it was impossible to tell. Upon that horse sat a small boy. He had been tied together with the horse. On the boy’s face, fear mingled with a certain determination could be seen.

A little behind, four or five more horses followed. Upon them rode warriors armed with spears. It seemed as if they would catch up very soon. One among them raised his spear above his head, aiming to hurl it at the horse in front. Another stopped him.

At that moment, the boy had to go beneath the thick bamboo thickets. A low-hanging bamboo branch caught in his hair. As the horse pulled forward, it was uncertain what would become of the boy. In that tense instant, those behind caught up and seized the horse.

They looked upon the boy tied to the horse with a mixture of surprise, shock, and anger. They questioned him about something. The boy stammered and replied. Alwarkadiyan could not catch the details in his ears. Only the repeated question, “Where is he? Where is he?” reached