The Immortals Of Meluha

The Immortals of Meluha is the first novel of the Shiva Trilogy series by Amish Tripathi. It is set in 1900 BC.,in what the modern Indians mistakenly call the Indus Valley Civilization. The inhabitants of that land called it Meluha-a near perfect empire created many centuries ago by Lord Ram,one of the greatest monarchs that ever lived.The story takes place in the imaginary land of Meluha,and how they are saved from their wars by a tribal chief named Shiva.???

Plot
Meluha is a near perfect empire, created many centuries earlier by Lord Ram, one of the greatest monarchs that ever lived. However, the once proud empire and its Suryavanshi rulers face severe perils as its primary river, the revered Saraswati,is slowly drying to extinction. They also face devastating terrorist attacks from the east, the land of the Chandravanshis who have joined forces with the Nagas, a cursed race with physical deformities. The present king of Meluha, Daksha, sends his emissaries to North India in Tibet, to invite the tribes that live there to Meluha. One of those invited are the Gunas, whose chief Shiva is a brave warrior and protector. Shiva accepts the proposal and moves to Meluha with his tribe. They reach the city of Srinagar and are received there by Ayurvati, the Chief of Medicine of the Meluhans. Shiva and his tribe are impressed with the Meluhan way of life. On their first night of stay at Srinagar, the Gunas wake up amid high fever and sweating. The Meluhans, under Ayurvati's orders, carry on the healing process. However, Ayurvati finds out that Shiva is the only one devoid of these symptoms and that his throat has turned blue. The Meluhans announce Shiva as the Neelkanth, their fabled savior.

Shiva is then taken to Devagiri, the capital city of Meluha.While on his way there,he decides to halt at a place on the bank of a river. While Nandi is resting,she goes out to explore the area.After a while,he comes across a temple.There he encounter a mysterious woman, who though very beautiful, has a look of penance on her face.He immediately falls in love with her.When he asks her name and when can he see her again,her friend answers that when he reaches Devgiri,he can ask anyone where he can find Lady Sati and they'll tell him where to find her.He meets King Daksha,after reaching Devgiri. While staying there, Shiva and his comrade,Nandi come to know that the woman who Shiva met at the temple,Sati is actually Princess Sati, the daughter of Daksha and is a vikarma, an untouchable in this life due to sins of her past births. Shiva tries to court her, but she rejects his advances. Ultimately Shiva decides that will woe her and also marry her,even though the Vikarma law doesn't allow it.

During his stay in Devagiri, Shiva comes to know of the treacherous wars that the Chandravanshis are carrying on the Meluhans. He also meets Bŗahaspati, the Chief Inventor of the Meluhans. Brahaspati invites Shiva and the royal family on an expedition to Mount Mandar, where the legendary Somras is manufactured using the waters of the Saraswati river. Shiva learns that the potion which made his throat turn blue was actually undiluted Somras, which can be lethal when taken in its pure form. However, Shiva was unaffected, which was the first sign that he was the Neelkanth. He also learns that Somras was the reason why the Meluhans lived for so many years. Brahaspati and Shiva develop a close friendship and the royal family returns to Devagiri.

At last,Shiva declares himself to be the Neelkanth in front of everyone.Daksha then advises him to travel and explore the entire kingdom of Meluha.He is accompanied by Sati,Veer Bhadra,Krittika,Nandi,Brahaspati and Parvateshwar on his journey across the land of Meluha.They visit many different cities,where Shiva is welcomed with great pomp and many pujas are held in his honor.During a similar puja in a city,a man disrespectfully talks to Shiva for allowing a vikarma (Sati) to attend the puja.Enraged by the disrespect shown by the man toward Shiva,Sati challenges the man for an Agni Pariksha.Even though the chances for Sati's victory were low;she wins the Agni Pariksha and instead of killing the man,she forgives him.

On their way to another city,the group comes across a village under attack.As they rush to the save the village,they find out the it is being attacked by the Nagas and some Chandravanshi soldiers.During the battle,a naga fires an agnibaan towards Shiva.But Sati comes it the arrows way and saves Shiva.Severely injured,she is taken to the village where Ayurvati treats her.Sati's life remains in danger,because of the poison of the agnibaan.Ayurvati and the other doctors lose hope and tell Shiva and the other that Sati won't live for much long.Shiva enter the room where Sati is resting and tells her not to lose hope.At this time,Sati confesses her love to Shiva and tells him that she will fight for life only to be with him.Shiva remembers about the Somras and asks Ayurvati to give it to Sati.Some Sati recovers.She visited by her father,Daksha who asks Shiva to marry his daughter.Shiva agrees and also decides to dissolve the Vikarma Law.Some after returning to Devgiri,Shiva and Sati get married along with Veer Bhadra and Krittika.

One morning, the whole of Meluha wakes up to loud noises coming from Mount Mandar. Shiva and his troops reach the hill to find out that a large part of Mandar has been blasted off and many of the inventors killed. There is no sign of Brahaspati, but Shiva finds the insignia of the Nagas, confirming their involvement in the treacherous wars of the Chandravanshis.

Enraged by this, Shiva declares war on the Chandravanshis. With consultation from the Devagiri Chief Minister Kanakhla and the Head of Meluhan Army, Parvateshwar, Shiva advances towards Dharmakhet, the border area of Swadweep, the land of the Chandravanshis. A fierce battle is fought between the Meluhans and the Swadweepans in which the Meluhans prevail. The Chandravanshi king is captured and brought in front of Daksha. He becomes enraged upon seeing the Neelkanth and is taken away. The Chandravanshi princess,Anandmayi, tells them that they too have a similar legend that the Neelkanth will come forward to save their land by launching an assault against the 'evil' Suryavanshis. Hearing this, Shiva is dumbfounded and utterly distressed.

Shiva decides to visit Ayodhya,the capital of Swadweep.He then visits the famous Ram temple of Ayodhya.There he meets the priest from whom he comes to know about the karma, his fate, and his choices in life, which will guide him. As Shiva comes out of the temple, he hears a scream. Running to the location he watches in horror as a Naga is about to attack Sati.