Week 3: Storytelling--Veiled and Forgotten

Deep within the earth, accessed only through a seemingly never-ending labyrinth of tunnels, there lies an ethereal city that could enchant any eye with its inherent beauty.  Few have witnessed this city's perfection, but all who have speak of it as if it was naught but a radiant dream.  Opulent buildings adorned with precious gems line the avenues, which are in turn paved with shimmering gold.  The luminous city squares dazzle the eye, for at the center of each stands a marble statue of a deity studded with pearls.  Surrounding the resplendent statues are glistening fountains, the gentle murmur and babble of the cascading water the only sound to be heard.

If you were to walk deep into the heart of this beauteous city, you would find an underground oasis--a sanctuary which would outshine any found aboveground.  Aromatic jasmine winds its way up the graceful trellises that mark the entrances; fragrant bougainvillea and elegant orchids line the polished footpaths.  Once you enter, delicate Indian rosewood trees surround you with their calming aura, raining pink-tinged petals down on the path stretching before you.  Creeping brahmi encroaches slightly onto the pathway, its light purple flowers suffusing the woods with an ambient glow.

Finally, if you were to reach the center of this haven, spreading its boughs to shelter all who wish to rest, stands a regal peepal tree.  And were you to find this regal tree, perhaps you would be dazzled by its allure and stunned into silence by its grandeur.  Many are said to have fallen to their knees in its presence, unable to take another step.  But if you were to look beyond the veil of heart-shaped leaves and past the fluttering silk ribbons which adorn its branches, an even more arresting and unearthly scene you would behold.  For beneath this tree of life, a forgotten woman sits cross-legged in meditation, a single, flawless lotus blossom entwined in her hair.  She sits so still, appearing not even to breathe, that she seems a beautiful specter or a divine hallucination.

None have dared to approach this supernal woman, for who would have the temerity to disturb the reverie of such a one?  Thus this woman--so exquisite and prepossessing that she must be nothing if not a goddess--rests as if in a trance, never to leave her prayerful contemplation.  Unless, perhaps, she is simply waiting, lingering, until the right wayfarer comes to rescue her from her beguiling, ethereal kingdom beneath the earth. . .



Author's Note.  I based this story off of the "enchanting city of palatial buildings" that Hanuman and the monkey army discovered when they were lost, traipsing about in the bowels of the earth.  I was entranced by the fact that this perfect city housed only a lone goddess; and not only that, but this was a story which was given sorely little detail.  Therefore, since The Ramayana didn't give me the description I wanted, I wrote a short descriptive tale of my own--so there!  And thus for all of you, here is a somewhat haunting description of a dreamlike city and its sole inhabitant, forgotten by the rest of the world. . .

Bibliography.  Narayan, R.K. (1972) The Ramayana.

Image Information.  Photograph entitled "Zonnestralen" ("Sun-rays") by photographer Onderwijsgek.  Wikimedia Commons.