KALA KRISHNAN’S MURUGAN TRILOGY DELVES RIGHT INTO THE HEART OF WHAT IT IS ABOUT THIS GOD THAT’S SO COMPELLING, WHY HE ELICITS NOT JUST DEVOTION BUT ALSO LOVE.

The great battle of Chendur has drawn to a close and Murugan has fulfilled his role as Mahasena. But it has left his beloved war bard Aambal enervated, her memories obliterated, her tongue stilled, unable to compose sentences, let alone verses. Will Aambal find her way to words again?

The battle had also kept Murugan from Theivanai whose mere presence had tugged at his feet. Will he succeed in wooing her now? Kala Krishnan has been exploring the Murugan universe for years now, first in verse and now in prose. In this second volume of a planned trilogy, she expands the mythologies of the god. Kumara, Karthikeya, Kandhan, Velan, Mahasena: the god of Tamizh, the patron of the Great Assembly of poets in Madurai, friend and mentor to the hot-headed and fiercely loyal Aambal, known to all as ‘Murugan’s poet’.

Exploring the stories of the women in the god’s life—his poet Aambal and his wife Theivanai—Book Two of the trilogy is resonant with the stories that were, as well as vividly original.