Tripura (mythology)

Tripura (Tamil: Tiripuram, Thai: Triburam) meaning three cities, was constructed by the great Asura architect Mayasura. They were great cities of prosperity, power and dominance over the world, but due to their impious nature, Maya's cities were destroyed by god Tripurantaka, an aspect of Shiva. The three cities were made of iron, silver and gold and were located on earth, in the sky and in heaven, respectively.

Following the death of Tarakasura, who was killed by Kartikeya, his sons Tarakaksha, Vidyunmali and Viryavana undertook severe penances by which they pleased Lord Brahma. They requested that they may become immortal. Resisting it, Brahma said to them that nothing can be immortal. Then Tarkaksh and viryavana asked to be blessed with impregnable fortresses, which would be everlasting. However, as Brahma told them that nothing could be everlasting, they requested that the destruction of the cities could be brought about by a single arrow only, on the hope that it was impossible for anyone to shoot such an arrow, save Lord Shiva, of whom they were great devotees. Brahma then blessed them that such fortresses would be constructed by the architect.

The three cities which comprised Tripura were distributed thus:

The three cities were mobile and moved in such a way that they would never be in a single line, save for a few moments in around a thousand years, when the nakshatra Pushya would be in conjunction with the moon. They were thus reassured that they were quite safe, as it would be an extremely difficult task to destroy the three cities, which aligned only momentarily, by a single arrow.

Asuras from everywhere began to flock to Tripura to live. The cities were extremely luxurious and prosperous.

After several years of joy, the inherent evil tendencies of the Asuras surfaced once again and they began to oppress the good and torment the noble. In the meantime, Mayasura was engaged in the worship of Shiva. The rest of the demons attacked sages and the Devas and shattered the peace of the worlds. Finally, when Indra and the rest of the Devas despondently approached Lord Brahma for respite, Lord Brahma redirected them to Shiva and also informed them of the vulnerability of Tripura to a single arrow. Lord Shiva promised to help them and the Devas returned to combat the Asuras in a mighty war. They were also assisted by Nandi, the leader of Lord Shiva's Ganas. Even though Vidyunmali was slain by Nandi, and several other Asuras were killed in the war, they were revived by water in the pool of Tripura, which had magical powers.

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