MYSTRIES UNFOLDED [On Hold]

CHAPTER 7

May Goddess Durga bless you all with lots of happiness, peace, prosperity and long life. This chapter is dedicated to the Goddess herself. So I begin this chapter with her blessings.
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Power, courage, determination and strength. This is what Goddess Durga stands for. Her name instills peace in hearts of the good and fear in the hearts of bad. Her rage sends shiver to the wrongdoers when she kills the evil Mahishasur. Her blazing eyes haunt the soul of the evil when she slays Shumbh and Nishumbh. Her soft hands turn into iron like grip when she ends the life of the deadly monsters. And yet in her most deadly and dominant personality, she radiates that warm and motherly love that engulfs all her children in a lovely embrace. She is the mother of the Universe, of everything around us. Her nine forms that are worshipped during Navratri have a story of their own but with two similarities, the love for their children and the end of evil. Her mere name provides serenity to her children and her smile gives them an assurance that she will always be with them in every circumstance.

This is what Ahana was experiencing as she stood in front of the 20ft tall idol of Goddess Durga in the Durga Temple of Bikaner. She was experiencing a different kind of emotion while gazing at the huge idol in front of her. It was as if the Goddess herself was standing there looking directly at Ahana and blessing her. She was so connected and lost looking at the Goddess that she did not notice that the priest already finished the arti. But as soon as she regained her senses, she bowed her head in respect to the Goddess and moved sideways after taking the Prasad.

The main hall where the idol was present was so crowded that it did not even have space for anyone to move yet people were pushing each other, struggling to come near the idol to touch the feet of the Goddess. The Rathores were lucky to have come earlier than everyone and got to stand just near the idol. But now after the arti, the the pushing and pulling had become so much that they had to move to outer side of the hall after taking the prasad. It was the eighth day of Navratri called Mahaashtmi and so having this much crowd in the temple primeses was normal. The temple was decorated with flowers and everyone was enjoying around.

Once outside, Gauri Rathore asked Ahana, "We are going to complete the rituals with Raghu and Siya. Do you want to come?"

"No, you can go. I want to explore the temple." Ahana replied almost immediately. She did not wish to lose her chance. She had to unfold the mysteries and now was the best time to do it. Her family would be busy completing the rituals that the newly wed had to perform when they visit the temple for the first time and she would carry on the search.

When her family went to the backyard to complete the rituals, she came to the front yard to meet her family priest. Jaidev had come to Bikaner a day before her with his wife Riddhi and had visited the legal offices to get information on the Rathore family. But he found out nothing that was of importance to them. They were losing hope when Riddhi's idea had given them a lead. According to her, many families have often maintained a record of their previous generations in their family temples. This tradition was started long back and today had helped many people know about there extended families. She had proposed her idea and Ahana thought of going with it for there was no problem in trying.

Entering a room, she found an old priest sitting there, reading his holy book. She recognized him as her family priest.  Her father had introduced him to her family before the arti. She went near him joined her hands in namaste.

"Namaste Panditji." The priest looked up and smiled seeing her.

"Namaste beta. Do you want anything?" He asked politely.

"Yes, I want to know about my family ancestry. Can you tell me about them?"

"Oh yes." He spoke excited. "Just wait, I will get the record book." He stood up and went inside a room adjoining the the main room and came out with a thick book.