Mandodari was the daughter of Mayasura, the king of the demons or the asuras and Hema,
the celestial nymph or the apsara. It is said that Ravana walked into Mayasura’s home and
demanded Mandori’s hand in marriage. Mayasura was against Ravana and so was Mandodri
but both were helpless. Mandodri felt that she would transform Ravan and bring him on the
path of virtue but that did not happen. They had three sons: Meghanada (Indrajit), Atikaya
and Akshayakumara.
According to one version of the epic, Mandodari is the biological mother of Sita, the baby
King Janak discovers on a barren land wrapped in royal robe. The legend reveals that Mandodri is the mother of Sita and Ravan her father but the mystery remains unexplained. Another
version says that Lord Hanuman tricked Mandodri into disclosing the arrow that would kill
her husband. The Telugu tale narrated in the Kuchipudi dance tradition, reveals that Ravana
asked Shiva for Parvati as his wife and Shiva created Parvati’s look-alike from a frog and
therefore the name – Mandodari.
To be continued