Bali

Bali is a mountainous island in Indonesia, and also a mythological king in ancient India as it is mentioned in the Ramayana.

The mountainous island in Indonesia, noted for its beauty and the richness of its culture, is situated east of Java. Denpasar is the chief city of this island.

The king Bali, according to the Ramayana, was a Daitya king. His father’s name was Virochan. He was married to Vindhyavali. According to Indian mythology Bali defeated lord Indra and got authority over the three worlds. All Gods were troubled because of Bali’s action, and therefore, they went to Lord Vishnu to pray for helping them out.

Vishnu took the form of a Vaman devata (lord) who was a dwarf incarnation. Vaman deveta went to Bali and begged of him to get as much land as he could cover in three paces. Bali was famous for his liberality. He agreed to give him land as Vaman wanted. Then, Vaman grew in size and he took the gigantic form. In his first step he covered the earth and in his second step he covered the heaven so there was no place for third step. Bali bowed his head and offered him third step which was promised by him.

As per the story, Lord Vishnu then took Bali to Patal Lok and kept him there. Bali was promised the kingdom of the Heaven in the next Manvantar.

Bali was also the king who saved the sage named Dirghtama. His wife Sudeshna had five sons. These names were Ang, Vang, Kaling, Pundra, and Sushma.