Tripura, meaning three cities or fortresses, is described in Hindu history as being constructed by the great Asura architect Mayasura. They were great cities of prosperity, power and dominance over the world, but due to their impious nature, Maya's cities were destroyed by god Tripurantaka or Tripurari, an aspect of Shiva. The three cities were made of gold, silver and iron and were located on the heaven, earth and underworld respectively. History of Tripura Penances of the sons of Taraka Following the death of Tarakasura, who was killed by Kartikeya, his sons Tarakaksha, Vidyunmali and Veeravana undertook severe penances by which they pleased Lord Brahma. They requested that they may become immortal. Resisting it, Brahma said to them that nothing can be immortal. Then Tarakaksha, Vidyunmali and Veeravana asked to be blessed with impregnable fortresses, which would be everlasting. However, as Brahma told them that nothing could be everlasting, they requested that the destruction of the cities could be brought about by a single arrow only, on the hope that it was impossible for anyone to shoot such an arrow, save Lord Shiva, of whom they were great devotees. Brahma then blessed them that such fortresses would be constructed. The construction of the three cities The three cities which comprised Tripura were distributed thus: The lowest, with walls of Iron, located on the underworld, The second, with walls of silver, located in the earth, and The third, with walls of gold, located in heaven. The three cities were mobile and moved in such a way that they would never be in a single line, except for a few moments in around a thousand years, when the Nakshatra Pushya would be in conjunction with the moon. Tarakasura's sons were thus reassured that they were safe, as it would be an extremely difficult task to destroy such impregnable cities, which aligned only momentarily, by a single arrow. Asuras from everywhere began to flock to Tripura to live there. Forebodings of the fall of Tripura After several years of joy, the inherent evil tendencies of the Asuras surfaced once again and they began to oppress the good and torment the noble. In the meantime, Mayasura was engaged in the worship of Shiva. The rest of the demons attacked sages and the Devas and shattered the peace of the worlds. Finally, when Indra and the rest of the Devas despondently approached Lord Brahma for