(harichandran) 05 The King’s Wedding (Ii) Poem by Rajaram Ramachandran

The thought of Chandramathi
Kept Harichandran’s mind busy.
He hated the slow moving night,
And the vexing moon light.

For the sake of Harichandran,
Cocks crowed early morn
Inviting the rising sun,
To come out very soon.

The night moon had gone,
With the arrival of the sun,
That began its open session,
In the morning reddish sky then.

From their homely nests
Flew out all hungry birds
In search of their foods,
From the city and woods.

After his bath in the river,
And his morning prayer,
King Harichandran went
To places in his chariot.

It was a pleasant sight,
To see wherever he went,
Like waterfalls, gardens,
Streams and mountains.

After days of travel
Crossing every hurdle
He reached the destination
In time for the function.

The hermits first led him
To Kannoj Kingdom
And then to the City
Of Kannamapuri

They said, “This is the place
Where Chandramathi lives.
It is here we saw her father
And discussed your matter.”

Into the City when he came,
Happy Harichandran became.
The guest house, he reached,
Where all the kings stayed.

Chandradayan gave him
A pleasing warm welcome.
All eyes looked at him
For his beauty and charm.

After what he has seen
Chandradayan was keen
That King Harichandran
Would be a good selection.

Close maids of Chandramathi
Briefed her about his beauty.
After hearing about him,
She fell in love with him.

In the main assembly hall
Kings were seated well.
There, she was led
By her close maid.

Her gorgeous bridal dress,
Enhanced her beautiful face,
That highly did impress
All the assembled Kings.

One of her maids followed,
King after king, she introduced,
But her eyes were looking for
Harichandran, her dream lover.

At last, when the turn came,
On hearing Harichandran’s name,
She saw him very closely,
Who looked so lovely.

“Is she a married woman? ”
Asked King Harichandran,
After seeing the nuptial thali
Tied around her neck closely.

Chandradayan heard this,
And explained him the cause,
That it was Shiva’s boon,
What he had actually seen.

Chandramathi was worried
And threw the garland
That straight went and fell
On Harichandran’s neck well.

Other kings felt unhappy,
While he was too happy
To receive her garland
From her lovely hand.

The wedding followed
And they got married.
It was a lovely first night,
Happily they both spent.

It was time for them
To leave Kannoj Kingdom,
From there, they all came
Back to Ayodhya Kingdom.

Chandramathi conceived.
In due course she delivered
A cute handsome boy
To their boundless joy.

They named him Devadasan,
And till he reached seven,
They both lived happily,
Free from any worry.