With the handsome groom,

 With the handsome groom,

her retinue turning toward the temple and making its way back— Singaravalli's forces.. O devotees.. at this hour, having lost the idol, the princess will have gone to the king.. the play we staged will be fully known to the king as well.. To capture us.. to destroy us.. to reclaim the handsome groom and take him back— the Sultan's forces, bound for Tiruvarangam, must surely have set out.. At such a time, for us to travel together is not wise.. Let us split into groups and continue the journey.. Not only that.. for the handsome groom to journey toward the temple is not good for him either.. For some time, we will keep him hidden away somewhere.. With me, three Kodavars.. Kodavars are those who serve the great Lord.. I will take them as my companions.. As soon as peace returns to Tiruvarangam.. with the great one, we too will come.. Now we part.. Time will surely bring us together again at the temple.. With the handsome groom, the four of them set out alone and journeyed toward Tirumalai.. Once the idol is placed atop Tirumalai.. there will be no harm done.. Climbing the hill, the foreigner's troops will not reach us, they thought, and moved toward Tirumalai.. reaching the hill as well.. At Tirumalai, unbeknownst to anyone, Namperumal witnessed the worship.. From there, moving on, Singaravalli arrived at Tiruvarangam.. The Sultan's daughter had come to Tiruvarangam.. and learning that, having lost the idol, she had given up her life.. she wept.. Henceforth, no more trouble from the Sultan.. She who reached Tirumalai, thinking the handsome groom could be brought back to the temple, died there.. The final rites for her were performed by the Kodavars.. her remains were immersed in the Papavinasam.. and she attained the supreme abode.. At Tirumalai.. in a cave.. the handsome groom, daily revered by the Kodavars.. —not days, but many years passed.. Adorned daily with wildflowers.. fed only wild fruits as his sacred offering.. the great Lord lived in peace.. One day.. a group of hunters roamed the forest.. Hearing the sound of bells there.. they spotted the handsome groom.. and an elderly Kodavar.. and reported it to the king.. The king was astonished.. That the handsome groom had lived there, thriving in a way even he could not know.. he pondered it.. and bathed in tears.. The Chandragiri king made arrangements to send the handsome groom back to Tiruvarangam.. As Vedic chants resounded, the handsome groom once more entered Tiruvarangam.. Two different tales.. two different invasions.. The years the handsome groom moved away from his abode— forty-eight? sixty? Malik Kafur's invasion 1311 CE.. Muhammad bin Tughluq's invasion 1323 CE.. In Malik Kafur's invasion, the handsome groom as idol.. was looted by them.. In Tughluq's invasion, the handsome groom as idol.. was protected by Pillailokachariyar.. Both idols returned to Tiruvarangam in 1371 CE, as inscriptions tell us.. One after sixty years.. one after forty-eight years.. are they the same? or different? But both from Tirumalai alone came back to Tiruvarangam.. In the Sultan's palace.. in Suradani's harem.. that Namperumal was there is true.. the reason.. After his daughter's death.. the Sultan, learning the greatness of Arangan, as atonement for his wrongdoing, is said to have granted land endowment to Arangan's temple.. That he was kept hidden in Madurai by Pillailokachariyar in the Koti Kulam is also true.. No need for research.. that Namperumal moved away from Arangam for some time is fact.. In the midst of this, for worship.. another Namperumal was there.. Doubts arose as to which came first.. The old idol was discovered by Irangollivar.. Tiruvarangam regained its ancient state.. The buried one beneath the earth also emerged.. She who was beneath the earth.. while she was absent, the one installed in her place.. today we can revere all three there as the festival idol.. Rajamahendran's sacred circumambulation.. in the northeast corner, a mandapam was raised.. there, the Sultan's daughter Suradani's form was painted as an image.. Tuluk Nachiyar shrine.. Her favored offering— wheat bread.. khichdi..