One
Mogul prince conquered Tondaiman- dalam and other Chola possessions.In the course of their
conquest, the Moguls plundered the country of its wealth. The great iconoclasts pillaged
the temples. In one of their raids, Srirangam temple also
was plundered and the idol of Manavala Perumal was taken away to Delhi. As the idol was
very beautiful to look at, the Mogul emperor's daughter took a fancy to it. During the
course of two years her fondness crystallized into a form of love.
She used to keep the idol by her side in her bed.
A lady living at Karambanar nearSrirangam was a
devotee of Manavala Perumal and would not touch food. Without worshipping
the deity. When the idol was taken away from Srirangam, she decided to follow the
returning hordes of the triumphant soldiers
to their destination, under disguise, and become their camp follower. She reached Delhi
with the Mogul soldiers, and managed to get into the Mogul harem. She
was always on the lookout for the idol. She could not find it in the Malkhana where all
the looted and plundered booty was
generally stored.
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