The Chipped Idol

 

I caught sight of the image as I was walking towards the long platform that extends into the sea at Villondi Theertham – the Holy Well of the Buried Bow– in Rameswaram. It stood in the sea, a mere ten to 20 steps from the beach, waist-deep in the middle of the swirling waters. At first glance, it looked like a black stone. But as we walked further down the platform, it became apparent that this was a sculpted piece of stone – an idol. I was intrigued. What was this idol doing in the sea?

At the very edge of the platform was the theertham, a fresh-water well right on the sea. Legend has it that to quench Sita’s thirst, Sree Rama drew forth a fresh-water spring from the sea by shooting an arrow into it. A small act for a God perhaps, but tinged with human tenderness. Even if the well water, which was only slightly less salty than the sea water, didn’t really hold up the story. But perhaps that was just because we had let so much harshness seep into our lives that we were no longer entitled to such kindness.

At the well, I asked the local guide about the idol in the sea. He said it was a chipped image of Dakshinamurthy that had once been in a temple. When the idol was damaged, the temple authorities had immersed it in the sea. But the idol had found its way back to the shore near Villondi Theertham. Perhaps impressed by the idol’s tenacity, someone had fixed it on a base in the water, so that it now stood, half immersed, with just the upper torso visible.

As the sun went down in the western sky, Dakshinamurthy, or Shiva as Guru, who generally faces south, stood looking east, at the darkening sky and water meeting at the horizon. Chipped, perched on an unseen pedestal, half immersed in sea water, it seemed to draw into itself all the frailties of human beings and turn them into an offering of immense beauty, injecting its own unique note of grandeur into the spectacle mounted by the sea, the sky and the setting sun. Maybe that’s how each one of us – deeply flawed as we may be – fits into the cosmic scheme. Maybe all our flaws are but brush strokes in this mind-bending piece of art.