The Story of Maveli, Mahabali.. What is the story of King Maveli..?
It is believed that Mahabali ruled the Southern region of India before the occurrence of Ramayana. It also is believed that his kingdom extended from the Vindhyas in the North to the down South.
Lord Vishnu was not worshipped by the Asuras. Lord Vishnu incarnated as a humble brahmin bachelor known as Vamana, to test the soul of King Bali. He arrived in the kingdom of Bali. Vamana approached Bali as a poor Brahmin and asked him to donate a piece of land. Bali assured to donate him as much as he wanted but Vamana asked him to donate just a piece of land enough to cover his steps 3 times. This humble request puzzled Bali and pressed the Brahmin to accept more. Nonetheless, the Brahmin stood by this request..
At the instance of approval by Bali to grant the midget a piece of land enough to cover his foot 3 times, Vamana started growing to his cosmic form. He covered the entire Earth with his first step and he covered.
The people of Kerala celebrate the Onam festival every year marking the emergence of King Balu from the nether world. It is only festival of its kind celebrated in the memory of an Asura King, who was a noble soul.
A Shaiva tradition believes that a rat, when coming in contact with a lamp and consequently making it burn brightly in a Shiva temple, subsequently took birth and becoming the famous emperor, Mahabali (P. 180 Philosophical Series by University of Madras, 1960).
As per this legend, Lord Shiva initially told his consort Paravati that anyone who would make the lamp to burn brightly would become the ruler of the three universes. A rat in the guise to drink the ghee obtained off melting the butter approached it, but when it tried to lick, the flame got relighted into its mouth. Parvati asked Lord Shiva to keep up his promise and so did Lord Shiva.