Mayasura’s daughter was Mandodari, who married Ravana, the famous rakshasa king.
The danavas are a clan of asuras that were born of Rishi Kashyapa and his wife Danu. Being the descendants of Kashyapa, danavas are the elder half-brothers of the devas. They used to reside together in swarga loka during satya yuga, but they fought. Along with the daityas, the danavas were defeated and banished from swarga loka. The danavas then took refuge in the Vindhya mountains in Central India.
It is said that the danavas were originally pious and moral. Danavas Madhu and Kaitabha were famous for never telling a lie. Later, the danavas became sinful due to excess pride. One of the most famous among them was Mayasura. He used to live in Khandavaprastha. When the Pandavas were granted that area by Dhritarashtra, Arjuna and Sri Krishna burnt the Khandava forest to clear land for building the capital. They also killed all creatures fleeing the fire. Mayasura was also caught by them, but they spared his life. Out of gratitude, Maya, who was the best builder in the three worlds, constructed a beautiful palace called Maya Sabha for them. The Pandavas performed the Rajsuya yagya there and everyone, including Duryodhana, was dazzled by the palace. Mayasura’s daughter was Mandodari, who married Ravana, the famous rakshasa king.
The danavas and daityas were invited by the devas to churn the ocean to obtain amrita (the nectar of immortality). When Dhanvantari, the heavenly physician, emerged from the churning, holding the pot of amrita, fighting ensued between the devas and asuras, and the latter ran away with amrita. Vishnu took the form of a beautiful woman, Mohini, and enchanted everyone. She made the devas and asuras sit in separate lines to receive amrita. While Mohini was serving it to the devas, a danava named Svarbhanu sat in the deva line and received amrita.
This was seen by the Sun and the Moon who alerted the devas. Mohini cut off Svarbhanu’s head before he could ingest the amrita. Since then, the head called Rahu and the body called Ketu have been after the Sun and the Moon, trying to eat them up. As per Hindu mythology, it is Rahu and Ketu who cause eclipses when they try to swallow the Sun and the Moon.
The danavas are said to be masters of illusion. They are also experts at constructing buildings and machines. Some scholars have speculated that the large and well-planned cities belonging to the Indus Valley Civilisation were built by danavas. The cities have been discovered in a large geographical area, but are very similar in layout, suggesting that the same group of builders were employed. Perhaps someday we will be able to decipher the Indus Valley script and unlock their secrets.
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