Image Caption: Lord Shiva as Tripurantaka, taking aim at the three celestial cities of the Asuras. An act that symbolizes the triumph of truth over illusion on Tripura Purnima. Taken from the cover page of an Amar Chitra Katha.
On the last day of Kartik, during the full moon, a soft glow envelopes Varanasi. A second Diwali lights up the city. The story of how Tripura became a part of Bharat is celebrated with diyas, mantras, and prayers to Tripurantaka (Shiv Ji).
The story begins in Satya Yug, when three Asur brothers (Tarakaksha, Vidyunmali, and Kamalaksha) were each given a boon: three cities which could only be destroyed by one arrow. Mayasur (a famous architect) designed the three floating cities such that they would only align once every thousand years, for ⅓ of a second. Believing they had built something indestructible, the Asurs began behaving unethically. Enslaving others for their own benefit, their greed knew no bounds. In their despair, the people seeked out the god of destruction, Shiv Ji. With a single arrow, he waited patiently for the cities to align, and destroyed them. When they fell, they became known as the state of Tripura.
Mayasur (the illusionist) is well known for creating many illusive pieces of architecture that never withstand time. Similarly, mythological stories tend to corrode as we grow older. We realize that some writers of the past had plot holes larger than men’s pockets. However, many of these tales hide ancient scientific knowledge. For instance, the story of Tripura hides within it astronomic knowledge. The description of Mayasur’s three cities closely mimic the movement of planetary objects in space. Researchers are yet to find which objects were specifically referred to in the text.