Following deep deliberation, the gods were instructed to build three great cities, each extending a hundred yojanas in length and breadth. These cities would be completed at the auspicious conjunction of Pushya, ensuring their ancient and enduring nature. At the same moment of Pushya’s alignment, the three cities would unite in the sky, so that, joined together, they would become accessible only to those who could reach such heights. It was declared that with a single, mighty blow, hundreds of ancient cities could be destroyed—one city of iron would stand on earth, another of silver would float in the sky, and above the silver city, a golden city would rise. These three, joined by spans of a hundred yojanas and difficult to approach, would together be known as Tripura. Tripura was to be adorned with lofty towers and engines capable of hurling hundreds of missiles, with wheels, spears, and mechanisms that shook the very ground. Its gates would rival the grandeur of Mandara and Meru, and its shining ramparts would stand as peaks of radiant defense. The demon architect Maya, also called Satāraka, would protect and secure Tripura, wreathed in lightning. Who, indeed, could destroy such a fortress, save for the one blessed with three eyes? Thus, filled with divine inspiration, the demon Maya constructed Tripura, the fortress, shaping it by the sheer power of his mind. Within this city, ramparts and pathways twisted here and elsewhere, gateways and towered gates rose high, and royal roads stretched broad and straight. Streets and lanes branched out, assembly halls and squares were established, and within the inner city, shrines to Rudra stood alongside pavilions, ponds, reservoirs, and lakes. Gardens, parks, and delightful promenades for the Dānavas flourished. Maya, the master city-planner, fashioned all of this, and the city came to be known as Tripura. The city of black iron was built by Maya, and there the lord Tāraka was set as its ruler. The city of silver, shining like the full moon, was ruled by Vidyunmālī, who gleamed like a rain-filled cloud. The golden city, also constructed by Maya, was entered and ruled by Maya himself. These three cities—Tāraka’s, Vidyunmālī’s, and Maya’s—were separated from each other by a hundred yojanas. Maya’s own city was as splendid as Mount Meru, created at the conjunction with Puṣya. Just as the three-eyed one fashioned the celestial chariot Puṣpaka, so too did Maya, moving through the heavens, build city after city. In the realm of Varuṇa, Maya raised hundreds and thousands of splendid mansions of gold, silver, and iron. The cities of the enemies of the gods shone with jewels and were filled with hundreds of palaces and towering mansions. They surpassed all other worlds in delight, with gardens, reservoirs, wells, and lotus-filled lakes. Groves like the Aśoka forest echoed with the calls of cuckoos, and splendid halls and four-pillared mansions abounded. Seven, eight, and ten-leveled buildings, all skillfully constructed by Maya, rose high, adorned with banners, flags, and garlands. The air was alive with the sounds of tinkling ornaments and fragrant with scents. Offerings of flowers and food were beautifully arranged everywhere. Some places were darkened by the smoke of sacrifice, filled with vessels brimming over, resembling the sky covered with rows of swans. Houses stood in shining rows, festooned with strings of pearls that seemed to laugh with the beauty of the moon. Jasmine, jātī flowers, incense, and other blossoms perfumed the air. The pleasures of the five senses were ever-present, as if noble men enjoyed them together. The ramparts of the triple city gleamed with gold, silver, copper, and precious gems, resembling mountain fortifications. Each city boasted hundreds upon hundreds of gateways, adorned with banners and flags, rising like mountain peaks. The cities within Tripura were filled with the delightful sounds of anklets and possessed a splendor greater than heaven itself. There were also cities of maidens, with gardens, pleasure grounds, ponds, banyan courtyards, lakes, rivers, forests, and groves. Divine enjoyments and pleasures abounded, adorned with jewels and heaps of beautiful flowers. The exits of Tripura were protected by deep moats, a hundred in number, constructed with magical skill as defenses. Hearing of this wondrous fortress, built by Maya’s unparalleled craftsmanship, the sons of Diti—the mighty Asuras and kings, enemies of the gods—came in their thousands, their valor boundless. These proud Asuras, like mighty mountain elephants, filled Tripura, just as the sky is filled with water-laden clouds. When Maya, the great Asura architect, completed Tripura, the fortress became a place of refuge for both gods and Asuras, despite their enmity. With their wives and sons, fierce and armed as Death itself, those instructed by Maya entered their houses joyfully. The city teemed with many lions, as in a forest, and crocodiles, as in the ocean, their bodies brimming with intense anger and harshness. The powerful enemies of the gods occupied the city, and Tripura became crowded with tens of millions of Daityas. From Sutala, from the netherworld abode of the Danavas, and from the mountains, they all assembled, gathering like clouds to fill the magnificent triple city of Tripura.