Pushpaka Vimana

The Pushpaka Vimana was an extraordinary transcendental aircraft built by the celestial architect, Vishvakarma for Lord Brahma. Like other ancient Vedic spacecraft, the Pushpaka Vimana employed technology no longer understood on the planet in this Kali Yuga. It embodied mystical potencies and inconceivably massive construction that would be incomprehensible to modern aeronautical engineers.

Pushpaka Vimana was both massive and highly ornate, standing legions tall in the sky. It was adorned with figures of birds made of gold and was inlaid with precious gems and ornaments. It housed countless chambers, each the size of mansions, and contained everything one could desire. Its central adornment was an image of the Goddess Mahalakshmi, who was showered with flower petals sprayed by the uphold trunks of the elephants flanking Her.

Pushpaka Vimana is the first vimana mentioned in Vedic texts, being distinguished from the flying horse-drawn chariots of the devatas. Among its mystical potencies, Pushpaka Vimana was capable of understanding the spoken wishes of the person flying it, and it moved with the speed of the wind. Pushpaka was also capable of taking on any shape that its master desired.

While this flying palace was originally built for Lord Brahma, he later gifted it to Kuvera, the demigod in charge of wealth. However, the vimana was then stolen from Kuvera by his half-brother, the demon-king Ravana. Ravana wrested the craft away from Kuvera after obtaining a boon from Brahma.

Pushpaka Vimana became one of Ravana's most proud possessions, and he lorded it over the other living entities with great pleasure. Eventually, however, Ravana was also robbed of the vimana, which was commandeered by Lord Rama. The Ramayana described the scene as follows:

"The Pushpaka Vimana that resembles the Sun and belongs to my brother was brought by the powerful Ravana; that aerial and excellent Vimana going everywhere at will ... that chariot resembling a bright cloud in the sky ... and the King [Rama] got in, and the excellent chariot at the command of the Raghira, rose up into the higher atmosphere."

It was this vimana that Lord Rama and Sita Devi travelled in to reach Ayodhya. The craft's great speed allowed them to arrive in time, before the expiry of their fourteen year exile.