Kaveri
Dear
Children,
Do
you know that in India, the rivers are worshipped as Goddesses?
The
Ganga is considered the holiest river, and is believed to have descended
straight from Heaven.
The
River Cauvery also spelt as Kaveri, is considered to be the Ganga in the South
of India.
Now
let me tell you the story of the sacred place.
Beautiful
Kaveri is the daughter of the Sage Kaavera.
Kaveri
prayed a lot, to be able to achieve the boon, of becoming a river, so that the
dry region would become fertile.
As
Kaveri turned into a beautiful damsel, Sage Agastya asked Kaveri’s father for
her hand in marriage.
The
father could not refuse the sage. Hence Kaveri, being a dutiful daughter agreed
to marry the sage, but there was a condition attached to the matrimony.
She
told her husband that if he left her alone, for any amount of time, she would
leave him.
The
sage agreed. The wedding took place.
However,
once the sage left her alone, for a short while, as he went nearby for a bath.
Kaveri
decided to leave her husband, as she had vowed, she would do, if her condition
was not fulfilled.
The
Sage protested. The local people interfered and took sides, in the argument that
arose between husband and wife. They were cursed, that they would become
corrupted by sin.
The
Mother transformed into a Mighty River and promised that whosoever bathed in her
clear cool waters, their sins would be forgiven.
Mother
Kaveri also promised to appear once a year.
I
bet that you are about to ask me how She does that?
Well,
a holy miracle occurs every year. As soon as the sun reaches a particular
position, mostly on the 17th of October, the water, in the small
tank, where Kaveri took birth, bubbles up.
The
locals implore Mother to come, one more time to wash away their sins. And she
does appear, as the bubbles.
Oh
2 more things! The force of Mother Kaveri, turning into a mighty river, made the
pleats of Her sari, which were in the front, move to the back. Until today, the
charming ladies of Coorg wear their sarees with the pleats at the back.
Also
the water beneath the bigger tank disappears, to appear much later as a dancing
stream. Maybe that happened as Kaveri hid, fleeing from the anger of her
husband.
I
was told, that even though scientists have dug at the site, to find the hidden
waters of Mother Kaveri, under the tank, they have not been able to.
With
love,
Dadi
–Ma Nani-Ma
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