Confused but curious, Priya followed the lion, , through a forest of vembu trees and elephant-headed yakshas . They arrived at a frozen river—a curse, Thiruvallalan explained, cast by Vallīmātār , a witch whose heart had turned to kāñchi kōṅili (Chenka stone), cold and unyielding. The land, once vibrant as a kōvai (poem), needed a pāṭṭu (song) from the mortal world to melt her ice.