In Hindu mythology, Indra is the god of war, the lord of thunder and storms besides being the king of the gods or devas. He is, in fact, the chief god of the Rig Veda, other than Agni the lord of fire. Indra was also a great warrior and the strongest of all beings. As such he was the defender of the gods and mankind against the forces of evil. He is also regarded as one of the guardians of the directions, and is believed to represent the east. With the god of the sky as his father and the earth goddess as his mother, it is said that Indra was born fully grown and fully armed. Married to Indrani, Indra's sons include the famed Arjuna.
Weilding his celestial weapon Vajra, or the bolt of lightning, Indra is the one who brought water to the earth. The legend goes that the demon Vritra took the form of a mighty dragon, and stole all the waters of the world. No one could do anything about this until Indra was born. Upon hearing what had happened, Indra vowed to bring back the life-giving liquid. He rode forth to meet the terrible Vritra and managed to pass through all of Vritra's ninety-nine fortresses before he slaughtered the huge dragon and brought the stolen water back to earth.
Yet another legend tells of how Vritra, a huge serpent, was created by Tvashtri to get revenge for Indra's murder of his son, Trisiras, whose increasing power had worried Indra. The battle was won by Vritra who then swallowed Indra. He was, however, forced by the other gods to vomit Indra out. A truce was then brought about between Vishnu and the rishis, on the condition that Indra swore that he would not attack Vritra with anything made either of metal, wood or stone, or anything that was either dry or wet, during the day or the night. So Indra used the foam from the waves of the ocean to kill Vritra at twilight.
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