‘I for one am not surprised,’ said Bhagirath, barely able to conceal his contempt. ‘He is weak and gets easily exploited. It doesn’t take much for him to succumb.’

For once Anandmayi didn’t rebuke her brother for denigrating their father. She looked at Parvateshwar. He seemed lost and unsure. Change was horrible for the Suryavanshis, for the people of the masculine, used as they were to unchanging rules and stark predictability. Anandmayi turned her husband’s face towards herself and kissed him gently, reassuringly. She smiled warmly. He half-smiled back.

Kartik quietly put his plate down, washed his hands and walked out of the room.

It was early afternoon as Kartik and Ganesh’s steps led them around the five banyan trees from whose existence Panchavati derived its name. Non-Nagas were not allowed inside the inner city. In truth, many of them, Brangas included, refused to enter due to a strong superstition about the misfortune that would befall those that did. But the Neelkanth’s family did not believe in it. And anyway, nobody wanted to enforce an entry ban on them.

‘Why have only Lord Ram’s idols been depicted on these trees, dada?’ Kartik asked his elder brother.

‘You mean why have his wife, Lady Sita, and his brother, Lord Lakshman, not been shown?’

‘Not just them, even his great devotee, Lord Hanuman, is missing.’

Ganesh and Kartik were admiring the beautiful idols of Lord Ram sculpted into the main trunk of each of the five banyans. The five tree idols showed the ancient King, respected as the seventh Vishnu, in the five different roles of his life known to all: a son, a husband, a brother, a father and a godly king. Each banyan trunk depicted him in a different form. In each form, in a manner that somehow appeared natural, the sculptors had made the idols look towards the temple of Lord Rudra and Lady Mohini at one corner of the square. Their idols, on the other hand, were placed in the front section of the temple as opposed to the back as in most temples, with the effect that the two deities appeared to be looking at all five tree idols as well. It seemed as if the architects intended to show the great Mahadev and the noble seventh Vishnu being respectful to each other.

‘It’s in keeping with Bhoomidevi’s instructions,’ answered Ganesh. ‘I know his traditional depiction in the Sapt Sindhu is always along with his three favourite people in the world, Lady Sita, Lord Lakshman and Lord Hanuman. But it was an order of Bhoomidevi, our founding Goddess, that Lord Ram always be shown alone in Panchavati. Especially at the five banyans.’

‘Why?’

‘I don’t know. Perhaps she wanted us to always remember that great leaders, like the Vishnus and the Mahadevs, may have millions following them. But at the end of the day, they carry the burden of their mission alone.’

‘Like baba?’ asked Kartik, referring to their father.