Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

25th August 1657

Akhand Bharatiya Empire, Imperial Capital-Bengaluru, Shaurya Royal Palace

"Kavya, have you gotten ready yet?"

Vijay stood in the hallway, carrying Agni in his arms. He wore a beautiful yellow sherwani with red silk embroidery in the shape of a majestic elephant. Vijay looked regal and magnificent. Agni wore a little white dhoti and a saffron shirt, looking cute, his face resembling that of a young adult.

Just as impatience began to show on Vijay’s face after standing in the hall for the last 20 minutes, Kavya finally appeared.

Vijay was immediately mesmerized. The dissatisfaction in his mind soon disappeared like a puff of smoke, replaced by amazement, fascination, and admiration.

Kavya wore a stunning purple saree adorned with golden peacock embroidery. She looked absolutely breathtaking, so breathtaking that she rivalled even the apsaras of Indra’s court, so alluring that perhaps her beauty would even make the apsaras feel a little jealous.

The gentle smile on Kavya’s beautiful face only served to accentuate her presence even more, completely turning His Majesty Vijay into a statue.

Vijay was so mesmerized by her beauty that he forgot to blink until Kavya reached out to take Agni from him.

"Humph!"

Kavya, noticing the reaction from Vijay, couldn’t help but let out a smug snort in her heart.

Agni, seeing how his father was unmoving, became anxious. "Dada, come, Dada!" He called out as loudly as he could. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Eh?" Vijay woke up after hearing the call from Agni. Noticing that Kavya had already stepped out of the door, he quickly followed, a little embarrassment on his face.

---

The Royal Capital Bengaluru was transformed into a dazzling art piece, with countless lamps casting a warm, golden glow and numerous archways draped in vibrant flowers. The entire city radiated an infectious, cheerful energy.

Visitors to the capital were immediately captivated by the enchanting atmosphere, their senses overwhelmed by the bombardment of colours and the soft, fragrant scent of blossoms. The city’s festive spirit was so captivating that even those unfamiliar with Bengaluru were drawn into its magical charm.

"Shopkeeper garu, every street I see is adorned with flowers and decorations. Is there a special event taking place today?" A businessman who had just arrived in Bengaluru for business purposes could not help but inquire, as he did not remember there being any event in the capital recently. Additionally, he did not even remember there being any important festival around this time of the year.

The shopkeeper, who was ordering the helpers and guiding them to decorate his store, looked at the merchant with curiosity. "Are you not from the capital, sir?"

The merchant shook his head. "I’m from Guntur. I came here to buy some supplies for my factory."

The shopkeeper immediately smiled kindly as he soon understood what the problem was. "Oh, no wonder you don’t know. Today is a festival called Ganesha Chaturthi, and it is for this festival that the capital is so lively."

"However shopkeeper garu, was there such a festival before? I’ve never heard of it," the merchant was confused, Then he speculated, "Is this some northern festival we don’t know about?"

The shopkeeper shook his head. "Not really. According to the civil servants who informed us of the festival, this festival originated from the Satavahana State, which is the southern part of the empire." "Apparently, during the war against the Mughal Empire, His Majesty came across this festival when he went to Satavahana.

Word is that a group of villagers gathered together in hard times and celebrated Ganesha Chaturthi as a day of Lord Ganesha visiting the mortal world. So His Majesty felt that the festival could be an excellent opportunity for the citizens of the empire to come together in unity to celebrate the first deity of our civilization."

"This year is the first year Ganesha Chaturthi is being celebrated in the capital, so it is quite grand, and everyone, knowing the premise of the festival, is wholeheartedly supporting His Majesty’s initiative."

The merchant’s eyes brightened. "Maybe I should stay back today; it won’t be too late to return tomorrow." He became curious about how this Ganesha Chaturthi festival is celebrated.

---

Although Vijay intentionally did not spread the festival throughout the empire, the large-scale celebration in the imperial capital attracted a lot of attention from various parts of the empire.

The people who came to visit the capital curiously looked at teenagers around 15 to 20 years of age going from shop to shop, house to house, and street to street, carrying with them a hundi, which is used to collect money.

"Uncle Lal, I’m here for the Ganesha collection!"

"Here you go, kid."

"Brother Dheeraj, you haven’t given your share yet."

"What’s the rush, brat? Here you go."

"Hey, Sister Latha, your clothing shop is so big. Why don’t you donate a bit more?"

"Why are you asking me again? Haven’t you already received from my father?"

"Your father’s contribution is different from yours. Come on, Sister, help out a bit more."

"Alright, alright. I’ll give it, Stop with that pitiful face; it’s ugly."

A few people on the other side of the street, where the collection was taking place, watched the teenagers with Doubt.

"What are these kids doing? Why are they collecting all this money?" a police officer who was only recently assigned to the capital curiously asked.

The constable, looking at the children running around the street with a smile on their faces, replied, "Sir, all these kids are senior school students of the capital. They are collecting donations from all the residents of the capital to build a temporary home for Lord Ganesha."

"They were instructed to do this by the order of His Majesty himself, so the residents help out as much as they can."

The police officer understood the gist of the situation; however, he was a little confused. "Why does the royal family need donations from the people of the capital? Doesn’t His Majesty have a lot of wealth?"

A merchant who was overhearing the conversation also looked toward the constable, waiting for an answer. The constable, seeing the two curious gazes, couldn’t help but feel good about himself for being born in Bengaluru.

"Sir, Ganesha Chaturthi is a social event, and since it is a social event, it needs contributions from every part of society. This contribution doesn’t have to be too much; one or two Varaha will suffice. Even if that is not possible, donations of things like fruits, vegetables, flowers, ornaments, clothes, and anything else will also suffice."

"And these contributions are gathered together and used to build that temporary home for Lord Ganesha to live in."

The police officer and the merchant felt enlightened. "Oh, it’s like this. No wonder," the merchant had a look of realisation, deciding to witness this novel festival. The police officer felt a little depressed as he was assigned to maintain internal security at the embassy street of the city.

---

In the city centre, in front of the sacred fire that represents the fire of civilization, a lot of young people were gathered together.

"Hey Jagga, bring that log here quickly; we don’t have much time!"

A middle-aged man was screaming at the top of his lungs, sweat trickling down his face.

The boy named Jagga immediately brought over a large 15-foot teak log with the help of his friend and lodged it into the ground according to the middle-aged man’s instructions.

The middle-aged man was actually a professor at the high school in the capital. Vijay had assigned him the task of building the log house with the help of the students of his school.

Vijay could have brought together some civil construction experts to get it done, but that would have taken away from the whole point and fun of Ganesha Chaturthi. So he gave instructions based on how Ganesha Chaturthi was held in his past life.

As hours went by, the voice of the middle-aged man became more and more hoarse, but his eyes kept brightening. The log house was coming together perfectly.

He had initially started with a single two-foot-thick sal log as the backbone of the log house. He then used two shipbuilding-quality teak logs on both sides of the sal log. The three logs together made up the back of the house, spreading across a length of 26 feet. The height of all three logs was 15 feet.

The front of the log house had a similar arrangement but without the central log to avoid hindering the entry and exit of the crowd.

A beam was attached between the two logs in the front and the three logs in the back, after which a perpendicular 80-foot sal tee log was placed on top of the beam in the central position. This beam was the spine of the log house.

On the sides, smaller 6-foot logs, three on each side, were lodged to the ground.

A crossing beam was attached to these side logs, forming the support for the side walls.

On top of these side beams, four logs were attached from the side beams to the spine log.

Thinner sticks were then attached in a crisscross pattern across the roof of the log house.

On top of these sticks, thousands of coconut leaves were tied onto the roof with the help of threads.

The same process was repeated for the side walls.

Internally, white cotton cloth was draped across the walls, making the building look beautiful and neat.

"How much of the budget is still left?" The professor grew worried, as he had spent a lot of the collected money on buying logs and coconut leaves from merchants.

The student who was acting as the financial accountant of the whole process looked at the account book. "We still have 2,250 Varaha, sir."

The professor immediately let out a sigh of relief. "Thankfully I did not blow everything on the project." He wiped the sweat that had accumulated on his forehead. He had been stressed since he accepted the task from the emperor’s office. Fortunately, he had not spent all the money at once.

"Gajendra, we have some leeway for decoration, don’t we?"

"Yes, sir, we do—432 Varaha to be exact."

"Alright, contact some artists and have them help us out with the decoration."

"Do you have a theme in mind, sir?"

The professor stroked his chin. "This is the first celebration, so what can I do to make the Lord feel like he is at home?"

An idea hit him. "Wait, home— isn’t that Kailasha?" His eyes immediately brightened.

"Since the Lord needs to feel like he is at home, let’s make the theme resemble Kailasha."

Gajendra’s eyes lit up, as he felt that the professor’s idea was very good. "I’ll go call them immediately."

Apsaras: Rambha, Urvashi, and Menaka are apsaras (celestial nymphs) from Hindu mythology

Hundi: Refers to a collection box or donation box where devotees can contribute money

Kailasha: Mount Kailash is considered the home of Lord Shiva, Ganesha’s father, making it a significant spiritual site for followers of Ganesha in Hinduism.