This piece is influenced by a popular, but metaphorical story about the splitting of the moon. The legend is of a king Cheraman Perumal from Kerala who, one night, spotted the moon splitting into two. He then learned about this miracle being performed by prophet Muhammad and abdicated his throne to travel to Arabia to meet him. Cheraman was the name of the dynasty of Chera rulers and Perumal meant, ‘the great one’. According to Keralolpathi (Origins of Kerala), written in the 17th or 18th century, following various conflicts in the 9th century, the representatives of 64 settlements in Kerala brought the Perumals from outside Kerala and each one was to rule for 12 years.
In the sculpture The Knights are symbolizing those representatives and there are 12 of them as a symbol of the number of years they were set to rule. The Knights are arranged in the shape of a mandala as Kerala is an Indian state.
* music by Vienna Ditto "A wheel within a wheel"
