All the world, the gods and the humans stand around trembling as a fight of tremendous power takes place. But Ooramma is stronger. If Mayisa throws a weapon at her, she swats it away. If he comes in for hand combat, she breaks his arm. Finally Mayisa’s strength ebbs and Ooramma cuts his head off, destroying evil and saving the world. She is the most powerful being, the head of all gods, Dasegowda says.

He does not have Annaiah’s range and charm, but the tale itself is stirring. The villagers listen and nod. The goddess that protects their village is strong indeed. Strange that no one knew this story, but Ooramma was going to get more kanike this week. Dasegowda sees this and is happy. His point has been achieved. Should he also tell them that Kamadeva is a weak god and has never destroyed any evil? He opens his mouth and sees from the corner of his eye a shadowy figure, powerful and dark, standing behind all the villagers, drinking from a goatskin. The words don’t come out.

‘Mayisa,’ says the shadowy figure, ‘is a good king.’

Surprised, all the villagers turn as one to see who is talking.

Annaiah has come to the Ooramma temple. ‘Mayisa,’ he says again, ‘is a just king. He takes on the gods of the upper castes, so they destroy him.’

‘Come on,’ says Dasegowda, ‘what are you saying? What do you know about Mayisa?’

Annaiah brushes that off with a wave of his goatskin. ‘Mayisa is being made into a gumma by the upper castes. They want their gods to be worshipped, so they call the strong and handsome Mayisa a buffalo king. He is the king of this land, he treats everyone equally and fairly. People love him. But the upper castes don’t like that. They want all the power.’

Annaiah stops to take a swing from his goatskin. Dasegowda watches with distaste.

‘They know Mayisa’s weakness is his chivalry,’ Annaiah says. ‘He was a gentle and kind man. They send a woman to fight him. He refuses to raise his hand against a woman. She carries a garland of swetasanchari and suryavamsi as her weapon, not what you see on the Ooramma idol that those upper castes made. Ooramma actually uses Kamadeva’s powers and destroys Mayisa.’

The villagers, taken aback that Annaiah is talking of someone other than Kamadeva, now relax … it is a Kamadeva story.

Annaiah continues. ‘She weeps as she destroys him. The world has to survive and Mayisa is the sacrifice that the gods demand. Indra, Varuna, Vayu and Agni are jealous of Mayisa and the love he gets from his people. They threaten to destroy the world if Mayisa is not eliminated. Ooramma tries to reason with them, but does not succeed. She has to protect the world from the wrath of the gods. She is the earth. She is Prakriti. And sometimes, she has to destroy the good to maintain balance and for the greater good of all.’