CHARACTERS
(clicking on the image will take you to when the character first appeared)
NEEL
Neel means the color blue or the moon when pronounced Neela like Manu does
Neel is a young medical practitioner who's specialty is Varmakalai( an art form that is rarely taught to anyone). He was found nearly dead in the river near Varmapuri when he was 6 years old, and has no memory of his life before being found. He was raised by his teacher Assan Manasa Muni. He shares a unique bond with Manu another orphan who arrived almost at the same time as he did, to Varmapuri and is bound by a promise he made to his teacher to protect herMANONMITHA/MANU
(mind- friend; Manu means of the mind, intelligent and wise, )
Manu is an 8 year old orphan adopted by Manasa muni (she calls him father). Her main aim is to learn Varmakalai from Neel, who refused to teach her until he owed her a life debt. When she is unconscious, a bird like creature appears that is said to be an illusion of her subconscious mind (chit maya)VARAHA
( Varaha means wild boar)
Neel and Manu meet him in the forest when in falls down from the sky in his strange boat like contraption. He is an inventor of sorts. When I first created Varaha, I had based him on Sharvilaka - a very interesting thief from the play Mrichakathita, written by King Shudraka.
The character in the play had a silght OCD. A person who cannot do any thing without a how to manual.He first consults the scholars and famous texts to determine what kind of hole he has to make on the wall so that he can successfully rob a house. Very little of Sharvilaka remains in Varaha, who seems to have come a long way on his own. Varaha at times especially under pressure, might revert back to Sharvilaka though!
MIHIRA
Mihira means sunny/sun mostly because these creatures love the sun. When I started his design he was to be a common Indian Iguana, but through the process of developing his character, he somehow became a bearded dragon. Also since he is the pet of Varaha together they become "Varaha mihira", who was a great mathematician of ancient India.
VIRAPAL
(diamond tooth)
The blood thirsty dacoit chief, who is dying for a fight. He is known to behead friends and boil enemies, and yet it remains a mystery why his henchmen stick around. He seeks the favor of a mysterious "crippled one".VETALA
A demon like being that lives near cemeteries and possesses corpses. Vetala was made famous in the Vetala Panchavimshati(25 tales of vetala) written by the 11 century poet Somedeva in his famous work "Kata saritha sagara".
According to legends there was a very powerful king called Vikramaditya who agreed to capture a Vetala to help a Tantrik (black magician). But it was not an easy task as the king has a maintain a vow of silence to keep his prisoner. The king managed to capture the demon but then, the Vetala laid a bet to the king. He would tell a story. At the end it he would ask a question. If the king knew the answer and refused to answer then his head would blow up into a thousand pieces, (if he answered the Vetala would fly away), But if he truly did not know the answer then the Vetala would accept defeat and follow the king. Unfortunately the king was a genius who knew the answers to all of the Vetala's puzzles. Each time the king answered the riddle at the end of the story, the Vetala
fled back to the graveyard laughing.The king made twenty five attempts to capture the demon. But the king never gave up . Then after the 25th story, the Vetala fumbled and asked an unanswerable question. The king remained silent and managed to capture the demon. The demon was very impressed with the kings persistence and intelligence and told the king that the Tantrik -who the king is helping was actually planning to us the king as a sacrifice. The demon then went on to help the king kill the wicked tantrik.
NIDHI
Nidhi means treasure
She saves Manu from the raging Bull.(We will get to know more about her as the story progresses)UDHYANA
(Udaya-dawn/sun rise)
Bodyguard and disciple of Swethanmabara- Grand master and chief minister of The cursed kingdom. He is quick to loose his temper, and loves to be the center of attention. Naturally bad at dealing with kids and animals.SWETHAMBARA
The old Master also called Swethambara(meaning-white robed one). It is considered disrespectful to call ones teacher or superior by name. He will be mostly addressed as the old Master in the story. He is the chief minister of the cursed kingdom and lives in the city of Vidhya vihara.
" Niyathi-niyathi" is the old masters favorite catch phrase. This reflects the philosophy he followed which was called "Ajivika siddhanta" It was a school of thought that rubbed shoulders with Buddhist and Jain philosophies and might have been older than both. Its followers believed that a person's life was predestined. A soul's path through various cycles of life was destined to end in salvation. This school of thought had a greater influence on Jainism and its greatest proponent is said to have shared a dysfunctional master- disciple relation with Mahaveera (founder of Jainism). It enjoyed a great following till around the 5th century AD and there were even some cave temples dedicated to this school of thought. But by the 10th century its influence had vanished or was absorbed into other schools of thought.
NAYAKA OF THE SHAKA'S
Chieften of the kingdom of Shaka
Well versed in dark magic and holding a grudge against the Queen of the Cursed City Vidya vihara
BIKYA
Bikya meaning dark one.
Daughter of the Nayaka of the Shakas. Her father calls her "Bika"(poison)Other characters waiting for the story to progress
