Mahabharata, Vana Parva describes a demon named ‘Dhundhu’ who was killed by Ikshvaku king Kuvalayasva and his 21000 sons.
This was actually a Volcano which was closed permanently by a king and his army.
Dhundhu is described in puranas as son of demons Madhu and Kaitabha, who were eventually killed by Vishnu.
They were actually world calamities like deluge, volcano etc.
Dhundhu is not a demon or Rakshasa, but actually a volcano mountain which existed thousands of years ago in Ancient India.
Kuvalayasva was 14th king in Ikshvaku dynasty, who was described in Mahabharata, Bhagatavam and Hari Vamsa Purana.
Bhagavata Purana, Canto 9 describes ‘Dhundhu‘, the demon.
Dhundhu was described as killed by Kuvalayasva and his sons burned in the ashes emanating from Dhundhu.
For killing or destroying Dhundhu, Kuvalayasva was named as ‘Dhundhumara‘.
Son of Manu was Ikṣvāku, who had 100 sons, of whom Kukṣi, Nimi and Daṇḍakā were the eldest.
Sons of Ikṣvāku became kings of different parts of the world.
By the mercy of Vasiṣṭha and the power of mystic yoga, Ikṣvāku attained liberation after giving up his material body.
When Ikṣvāku expired, his son Kukṣi returned and took charge of the kingdom.
Later, for violating sacrificial rules and regulations (Yagna vidhi), one of his sons, Vikukṣi, was banished from the kingdom.
Few years later, when Kukshi passed away, Vikuksi returned and performed various types of sacrifices to pleased Paramatma. This Vikukṣi later became celebrated as Saśāda as he ate Rabbit meat.
Kukshi means belly and Vikukshi was called so because he had a huge belly.
One day he went for hunting and while returning, he ate up a Rabbot and brought the remaining meat for sacrifice.
Vaisishta did not accept this as a part of hunt was already eaten. Vikukshi accepted that he ate rabbit (SaSa) and was named ‘Sasaada‘.
10 generations after him, Kuvalayasva was born who was a great warrior.
Dhundhu as a demon is poetic imagination. Dhundhu’s original description which was told by the Sage Uttanka to the king (Hari Vamsam. Ch. 11; Mahabharata, Vana parva. Ch. 202)
“There is a barren land near my hermitage, with no population. This flat land in the country Marudhanva is totally covered by the sand of the sea. The demon Dhundhu is hidden under the sand. He sprouts out a deep, tremendous and gigantic sigh due to which the earth trembles with all the trees and mountains on it. The great torrential masses of dust rise up in the sky which cover the sun for seven days. The land sprouts out fire and fiery sparkles in the sky.
The earth terribly trembles with quakes for a week. It is impossible to stay in my hermitage. Please stop this.”
Above description proves that Dhundhu was a volcano.
A volcano needs no mountain to erupt. It can even erupt through a crack in land.
Marudhanva must be ancient name of land in Kutch area of Gujarat.
History proves that no Volcano erupted in India during past 15000-20000 years. So this incident must be older than this timeline.
Hearing about this deadly news of the ‘Dhundhu’ demon Kuvalyasva went on an expedition to fight him.
He went with army along with sons to fight against Dhundhu, As they were searching, there was an eruption and all the army and Kuvalyava’s sons burnt in to ashes. The king dug that sand and brought the sea there.
This location must be either of the 2 huge lakes in Kutch region or near to Arabian Sea.
In the beginning tidal waves went down through the back and water sprouted with stream. Going down still deep the sea entered there and the volcano became calm and assuaged. Dhundhu demon was killed.
It means that the volcano became calm. The sounds ‘Dhun, dhun’ were heard so he was called ‘Dhundhu’ demon.
Many sons of Kuvalyasva were killed while attempting to close ‘Dhundhu’ permanently. Only three sons survived. They were Dridhasva, Chandrasva and Kapilasva. Dridhasva being the eldest got the throne. (Hari Vamsam. Ch. 12)
Lord Narasimha Temples on Volcano Hills
Last known volcano near India was at Barren Islands in Andaman Island. Many other earlier active volcanoes are estimated to be millions of years old.
Many temples constructed on top of mountains or hills are actually to suppress potent volcanoes underneath.
Lord Narasimha temples are one such examples.
Mangalagiri town in Andhra is a hill on which the Temple is constructed and is a passive volcano.
Geological survey of India has records that dates back to the 1800’s which corroborates this fact.
Locals here believe that the panakam (Jaggaery water) that devotees pour to the lord quenches the volcano that lies dormant beneath the hill.
The sugar compounds supposedly counter react with the Sulphur compounds of the volcano.
Half of that is absorbed by volcano and rest comes out.
There are no flies and ants on this hill, though there is lot of Jaggery water used on daily basis, which indicates the heat beneath.