Banasura

For the dam, see Banasura Sagar Dam.
Banasura

Banasura

Banasura battles with Krishna

Bana (also called Banasura), in Hindu mythology, was a thousand-armed asura King and son of Bali.[1][2] Banasura is believed to have ruled the present-day central Assam with his capital at Sonitpur (present-day Tezpur, Assam). [3] According to another legend, Banasura was the King of ancient Nepal.[4]

Story

Banasura, a mighty asura once ruled over a large kingdom. So strong and fierce was his influence that all the kings and even some of the devas shuddered in front of his might. An ardent devotee of Lord Shiva, used his thousand arms to play the Mridanga when Shiva was performing the tandava dance. Shiva gave Banasura a boon and Banasura requested Shiva to be his protector. Banasura became invincible. As time passed, Banasura become cruel montay and arrogant. He locked up his daughter, Usha in a fortress called Agnigarh because many young suitors came to him asking for her hand. One day, Usha saw a young man in her dream and fell in love with him. Chitraleka was a friend of Usha and daughter of Kumbhanda, Minister of Banasura. Chitralekha was a talented artist who helped Usha to identify the young man seen in her dream, by sketching various portraits. She had dreamt of Aniruddha, the grandson of Lord Krishna. Chitralekha, through supernatural powers, abducted Aniruddha from the palace of Krishna and brought him to Usha.[5] Anirudha and Usha were married in the Usha-Anirudha temple at Ukhimath, a major temple of the area and the place where Lord Kedarnath uses to stay when the Kedarnath temple is closed for winter. In the great battle that followed, Lord Shiva came to protect his devotee with his Ganas and sons, Ganesha and Kartikeya, but was routed by Krishna. Shiva himself was put to sleep by Krishna, who invoked 'jrmbhunastra'. The story of Banasura ends with his defeat at the hands of Lord Krishna, who severed all arms of the thousand-armed demon sparing two.[6] Shiva then requested Krishna to spare the life of Banasura, who asked forgiveness and was allowed to live. He was ultimately killed by Devi Kanya Kumari, whom he out of lust wished to marry. Goddess Kumari, who wished to marry Lord Shiva refused his proposal, instigating him to attack her. In her anger, Goddess Kanya Kumari transforms into Bhadra-Kali and slays the demon, whose last wish of repentance was to be an eternal servant of Hers after death. She agreed and thus was built the great Kanya Kumari temple. This spot was also where the backbone of Devi Sati fell, after her body was amputated by Lord Vishnu. The temple is regarded as one of Devi Sati's Shakthipeetas.

Banasura's another mythological connection is related to Bundelkhand, present day Banpur, Uttar Pradesh. According to ethics, Banpur was the capital of Banasura and Usha who was also a great devotee of Lord Shiva like her father. She was a devotee of the Shiva Linga of Mahadeva in Jamdhar river at present Kundeshwar. Mahadev through the Akashwani assured Usha Devi that her wishes will be fulfilled. The Sivalinga worshiped by Usha Devi was emerged from the Kunda of Bagwar, Suryawanshi Kshatriya clan landlady called Kundeshwar Mahadev - the Mahakaal of Bundelkhand and Bagwar - the Pandya of Kundeshwar presently Tikamgarh(M.P.) assamohanpur in Deoria district there is a mound which is said to be the fort of Banasur.Water flows through it in only one direction in which pieces of gold and silver has been recovered in the past. The field in which Lord Krishna fought with Banasur is also there. Sohagra a nearby place where the biggest Shivlinga of the country is there .It was the place of worship of Banasur.

There is a mountain in Kerala which is named after him.

Family

Banasur Remarking on Evil

The genealogy of Banasura is as follows:[7]

Banasura's wife's name was Kandala.

Descendants of Banasura

Bana is a gotra (clan) of Jats found in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Bundelkhand in India. Banas who formed Bana Kingdom are descendants of King Banasura. Their capital was at Bayana in Bharatpur, Bagwar of Banpur, Kundeshwar in M.P.. Usha temple, at Bayana, was built during the reign of Raja Laxman Sen, by his wife in memory of Usha. There is mention of Bana Chieftains along with Pallavas and as feudatories of Cholas in Tamil Nadu. Bana Kingdom. Bana's daughter Usha married to Aniruddha son of Pradyumna and the grandson of Krishna. She gave birth to Vajra, whose lineage is traced to the royal family of Jaisalmer.

Existence

Due to his presence in the Luhara, a temple of Banasura available in the village. According to Hindu mythology Banasura lives here for so many years and done the worshipping of Shiva .

Media and Literature

Banasura's story has been narrated in Indian epic Mahabharata and Bhagavata Purana. His story as the rejected suitor for goddess Shakti is present in Tamil Sangam literary works Manimekalai and Puranaanooru; Bhattavataar's Banasura Katha. [8]

Usha Parinayam (the marriage of Usha-daughter of Banasura) was a Telugu film directed by Kadaru Nagabhushanam under Rajarajeswari films in 1961. Legendary Telugu actor S. V. Ranga Rao played the role of Banasura. [9]

The story of Banasura was shown in Life OK's television series, Devon Ke Dev...Mahadev and the role was done by Punjabi actor and model Vikramjeet Virk.

References

  1. ↑ krishna.com - Glossary description
  2. ↑ Kumar, Anu (30 November 2012). Banasura: The Thousand-Armed Asura. Hachette India. ISBN 978-93-5009-537-9.
  3. ↑ Sajnani, Manohar (2001). Encyclopaedia of Tourism Resources in India. Gyan Publishing House. pp. 12–. ISBN 978-81-7835-017-2.
  4. ↑ Maharshi, Ramana. "Kiratas of Nepal: Shambhasura and Banasura".
  5. ↑ M. Padmanabhan, Meera Ravi Shankar (1 August 2004). Tales of Krishna from Mahabharatha. Sura Books. pp. 56–57. ISBN 978-81-7478-417-9.
  6. ↑ http://krsnabook.com/ch63.html
  7. ↑ Bhaleram Beniwal: Jāt Yodhāon ke Balidān, Jaypal Agencies, Agra 2005
  8. ↑ Kalla, Krishan Lal. The Literary Heritage of Kashmir. Jammu and Kashmir (India): Mittal Publications. p. 11.
  9. ↑ Usha Parinayam 1961 film at IMDb.
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