Banasuraबाणासुर

Banasura, eldest son of the virtuous Mahabali, was a thousand-armed asura king and an ardent devotee of Shiva, who ruled from the city of Shonitapura under the great god's personal protection. His story, told at length in the Bhagavata Purana, is unusual among asura narratives: it ends not in annihilation but in chastened survival, and its true engine is not conquest but a love affair.

The story

So invincible had Bana grown that he complained to Shiva of having no worthy opponent, and was told, in effect, to be careful what he wished for. Meanwhile his daughter Usha dreamed of a youth she had never met. Her companion Chitralekha, gifted in portraiture, drew the faces of the worlds' princes until Usha recognised Aniruddha, grandson of Krishna, and by her powers Chitralekha carried him sleeping to Usha's apartments. When Bana discovered the lovers he bound Aniruddha, and Krishna came against Shonitapura with the armies of Dwarka. Shiva, true to his word, fought for his devotee, and the battle between the two gods and their hosts is one of the Purana's set-pieces. At its end Krishna sheared away Bana's thousand arms, sparing four, and spared his life at Shiva's asking. Usha and Aniruddha were married, and the humbled king remained in Shiva's service.

Traditions

Local tradition in Assam identifies Shonitapura with Tezpur, in Sonitpur district, where the story of Usha and Aniruddha is part of regional lore; other places across India, from a hill in Kerala's Wayanad to sites in the Himalayan foothills, also carry Bana's name in local legend.