The army of clay (Shalivahana of Pratishthana)

A potter's boy of Pratishthana, son of a serpent king and a Brahmin woman, judges the other children so fairly that Vikramaditya of Ujjain marches on the town; he shapes soldiers, horses and elephants of clay, nectar from the serpents wakes them, and they win. The town raises flags for his return, the gudi, and his era, the Shalivahana Shaka, begins.

The story, beat by beat

1. A woman with a newborn son, fathered by a serpent king, is sheltered in the potters' quarter of Pratishthana.
2. The boy shapes clay animals for the children and judges their quarrels so fairly that grown men notice.
3. Vikrama of Ujjain hears of him, summons him, is refused, and marches on Pratishthana with his army.
4. The boy shapes an army of clay soldiers, horses and elephants and sets them to dry by the river.
5. His mother gives him the nectar the serpents left with her; he sprinkles it and the clay comes alive.
6. The clay army routs the men of Ujjain; the town raises flags at every door for the boy's return.
7. He is crowned Shalivahana and counts his years from that day, the first of the bright half of Chaitra; the gudi is that flag.

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