A wicked plan - Page 2

Originally posted by: Leki

Awesome post Swasthi... Goki's idea s really too gud... ha i'm waiting for tmrw to see kinjal nd urmi's defeated luk... atleast nw dey vl understnd Gopi s no more gawar evnthough dey wnt acknowledge or accept... nxt time dey vl cum up wth sumthn nd call her gawar again...

Originally posted by: liza_beans

Thank you, I have been watching this serial from the 1st episode but rarely comment to get involved because of work and other commitments. I like this show because it is great because of its simplicity.

Thanks for sharing it Liza... even though i had lot of Ambalappuzha paal payasam i never knew dere s such a story related to it... ppl i hv to tell it s one of de best sweet dish nd i bet none cn make it de way dey do it n temple... once u have it u vl never forget its taste in ur whole life... sorry for going off topic bt culdnt stop myslf frm writing dis

Leki, I have heard about the taste but never had Ambalapuzha paal payasam.

Originally posted by: liza_beans

Leki, I have heard about the taste but never had Ambalapuzha paal payasam.

Justlikethat1, may I know your name? I am able to respond today because I am sick and in bed. Usually at this time I am running after my kids and their homework.

I had to think of these stories to teach my kids and my husband about India and its many facets.

Originally posted by: liza_beans

Gopi's request is similar to the legend I learned about a special offering in a temple in Kerala. I am copying the legend from a blog and the link for the site is http://www.fropper.com/post/27250

Legend of the Ambalappuzha Paal Paayasam
According to the legend, Lord Krishna once appeared in the form of a sage in the court of the king who ruled the region and challenged him for a game of chess (or chaturanga). The king being a chess enthusiast himself gladly accepted the invitation. The prize had to be decided before the game and the king asked the sage to choose his prize in case he wins. The sage told the king that he had a very modest claim and being a man of few material needs, all he wished was a few grains of rice. The amount of rice itself shall be determined using the chess-board in the following manner. One grain of rice shall be placed in the first square, two grains in the second square, four in the third square, eight in the fourth square and so on. Every square will have double the number of grains of its predecessor.

Upon hearing the demand, the king was unhappy since the sage requested only a few grains of rice instead of other riches from the kingdom which the king would've been happy to donate. He requested the sage to add other items too to his prize but the sage declined.

So the game of chess started and needless to say the king lost the game. It was time to pay the sage his agreed-upon prize. As he started adding grains of rice to the chess board, the king soon realised the true nature of the sage's demands. By the 20th square, the number had reached one-million grains of rice and by the 40th square, it became one-trillion. The royal grainery soon ran out of grains of rice. The king realised that even if he provides all the rice of his kingdom and his adjacent kingdoms, he will never be able to fulfill the promised reward. The number of grains was increasing as a geometric progression and the total amount of rice required to fill a 64-squared chess board is (2^64 - 1) which is equal to 18446744073709551615 grains (about 18*10^18, or 18 billion billion grains). This amount of rice would weigh about 461*10^12 kg, or 461 billion tonnes (1,000 grains of rice weigh about 25g.

Upon seeing the dilemma, the sage appeared to the king in his true-form, that of lord Krishna. He told the King that he doesn't have to pay the debt immediately but can pay him over time. The king shall serve paal-payasam (made of rice and milk) in the temple freely to the pilgrims every day until the debt is paid off.