Maya built palaces for both devas (gods) and asuras (demons). But in some accounts he was the architect for the asuras, while Visvakarman was the builder for the gods (devas). His daughter, Mandodari, married Ravana.
There are many versions of the myth of Matsya in the Puranas, with many interesting paradoxes and twists in the story line. Even the names of principle characters change. But the essentials of the myth speak of an avatara of Vishnu coming down to earth at the end of…
The Maruts were said to be sons of Rudra, sons or brothers of Indra, sons of the ocean, and later sons of Kasiyapa-prajapati (a progenitor). In the Rigveda they were associated with Indra, god of war, and Vayu, god of wind. Perhaps they were storm gods; certainly they helped…
Markandeya had a miraculous birth and would never grow older than sixteen years old. His father was the sage Mrikandu, whose worship pleased Siva. Appearing with a boon, Siiva asked Mrikandu whether he wanted a son who Markandeya was destined to die at sixteen but Siva saved his devotee from…
Brahma created Marici, whose life remains clouded in some mystery. His greatness cannot be doubted, but some say that he was a Marut (one of a group of gods associated with Indra, thus gods of storms and battle). Others that he was a Prajapati (progenitor or grandfather), or even…
There are many different calculations about just how long a manvantara is—but all agree that it is in the millions of human years. A smaller figure sets the number of years at only 4,320,000, while a larger calculation came to 306,720,000 human years. Each day in the life of Brahma,…
