Devi turned the trident so its prongs faced downward, and then she stretched out her other hand. Her veins stood out prominently. She took aim at the three dark scars that still remained from the last sacrifice and she plunged the trident into herself in one swift motion—blood spurted out. She placed her open flesh over the mouth of the altar, pouring her blood into the sacrificial pyre, watching impassively as it dribbled onto the blazing wood. The chanting ceased.
“I offer unto the stomach of our gods, of Agni, the fierce God of fire, my blood, my life force,” Devi cried. “And I ask in return for strength to protect my people from evil. To cure them from disease. To save them
from demons.” This is an extract from The Demon Hunter of Chottanikkara by debutant novelist S V Sujatha.
As the title indicates, the Devi is the one whose job is to slay the demons. And while she does the job with ease, soon there comes the news of a dangerous demon who would be more than a match for the Devi. The story then shows the various twists and turns in the battle between the two.
For the Tamilian Sujatha, who lived in Chennai for many years, a novel set in a temple in Kerala happened by accident. During a low point in her life, someone suggested that she should visit the Devi at Chottanikkara (16 km from Kochi), because the goddess is extremely powerful.
Eight years ago, she did go and spend three days at the temple. And it was an exorcism which she witnessed at the temple that had a profound impact on her.
“A lot of people, who were possessed and had mental afflictions, sat in groups,” says Sujatha. “A strand of hair taken from the pilgrims was nailed to the trunk of a tree. The whole tree was covered with pieces of hair. The priest was chanting around them. A few were ranting and raving, while others were screaming.”
But after a while, she noticed that the chants were working. People began calming down. “But at that age (21), it was frightening for me,” says the writer. “It stayed with me. When I wanted to write about folklore and Indian mythology, somehow, this temple came to my mind.”
Sujatha did a bit of research but mostly relied on her imagination. “I have personified the Devi,” says she. “She is an orphan who is raised by a foster father called Kanappa, a reformed bandit.”
The writing is assured and confident and gripping, thanks to Sujatha’s natural story-telling gifts. She is busy looking for her next subject at her home in Seattle. “The writing bug has bitten me,” she laughs.