The Unfinished Temple

A wealthy merchant funded the construction of a grand new temple, but when the builders accidentally left his name off the dedication stone in favor of a longer list of smaller donors, he flew into a rage and withdrew his funding entirely, halting construction with the temple only half-built and exposed to the coming monsoon.

The builders, desperate and out of options, appealed to Tenali Raman for help resolving the dispute quickly before the rains ruined everything already built.

Tenali Raman visited the merchant and, rather than argue, praised his generosity extravagantly, then mentioned — almost as an afterthought — that an unfinished temple bearing no one's name at all would likely be remembered by the whole town as "the merchant's temple" regardless, since everyone already knew who had funded most of it and who had abandoned it halfway. A finished temple with a modest mention, he pointed out gently, would forever be remembered fondly; an unfinished ruin associated with his name would be remembered very differently indeed.

The merchant, seeing the wisdom in finishing what he'd started rather than being known for abandoning it, restored his funding the very next day, and the temple was completed in time, dedication stone and all.