By N.K.A. Ballal, Retd. Sr. Vice-President, ITDC
Last week, I had the privilege of visiting Kanchipuram with my better half. The magnet, of course, was to see the famous “Atthi Varadar,” who was brought out of a pond for just 40 days and immersed back into the pond to be taken out after another 40 years! It is said that this was done to save the deity being destroyed by Muslim invaders. Myth or a reality, I have no idea. The deity is made of wood and it is a real miracle that it has survived the water immersion for so many years and is still intact.
