Book Description

In the hamlet of Pookkudi in Tamil Nadu, an archaeological team excavates a mysterious statuette of a woman in black granite. The localities seem to know who the woman was, and folklores about her life are well-known and the team too is convinced of these. Yet, Ananthan a young archaeologist in the team, keeps questioning the authenticity of these claims. In the interregnum of a fortnight awaiting the carbon dating result, Ananthan pays a visit to his octogenarian grandfather whose health is in a sinking state. The old man, a former professor, has written a novel based on the history of Travancore and Tamil Nadu. The story is set two hundred years ago around the unnatural death of Ranganatha Deekshithar, a famous musician, and Kaveri, an eminent dancer, who is convicted of this murder by the royal police. He wrote the story based on the facts revealed to him and the assumptions he could make thereof. But he always felt there was something amiss. He believes that unless the story is cleared, his soul would not leave the nest of his body. He wants his scion, Ananthan, to take up the mission of rewriting it in line with historical facts so that he can die peacefully. From then on, Ananthan traverses through the dark recesses of history, which is embellished by music, dance, love, deception, revenge, and murder. What is the real story? Will the carbon dating results prove his theory to be correct? Will he be able to unfold the mystery and find who committed the murder, how, and why?