Long ago, in the splendid city of Mallikârjunapurî, King Venkataja lived in splendor, but without an heir. His first queen could not bear him a son, so, in despair, he placed her in a small pavilion beside the palace. He then married again, hoping for a child, but the second queen also remained childless.
Determined to have an heir, the king prayed to Lord Maheśvara for help. Moved by his devotion, Lord Maheśvara gifted him a single magical mango and said, “Give this to your queen.” The hopeful king presented the mango to his second wife. She drank its sweet juice and tossed away the seed as useless.
But fate had other plans. The first queen’s maid overheard the story about the magic mango and rescued the discarded seed and gave it to the first queen. The first queen In return offered a part of the seed to her maid. Both women ate fragments of that magic seed. Soon afterward, the second queen gave birth to twin boys. The maid, too, bore a son. Then, astonishingly, the first queen found herself delivering a tortoise.
From the start, this tortoise seemed extraordinary. Though he had a hard shell, his mother soon discovered a secret – every night, her “son” shed his shell and became a handsome young man. Curious one evening about food vanishing from the palace kitchen, the queen hid behind a pillar and watched the tortoise transform. He emerged, hungry, and ate rice in human form.
One night, while the young man was eating, the queen quietly stepped forward and smashed his shell, thinking she was freeing him forever. After finishing his meal, he searched for his shell and found it broken to pieces. The young man saw his shattered shell, and spoke gently: “Mother, I still need my shell. Please have a box made for me until I fulfill my destiny.” Feeling remorseful, the queen apologized and ordered a wooden box to replace the broken shell. Thus, her son lived hidden inside that box by day, unfurled into a prince by night.
Years passed. One morning, King Venkataja gathered his twin sons. “Travel north,” he said, “to the frosty mountain called Himayagiri. Bring back the maiden of the mountain as my third queen.” The twins, eager to please their father, set off immediately. But their half-brother, The Tortoise Prince, sensed danger through his gift of Jñanâdrishti – an inner sight that revealed events near and far. He knew that without his help, the twins would fail. So he smeared charcoal on his skin to appear like a wandering mountaineer and joined their caravan. The twins, amused by his clever stories around campfires, welcomed him gladly – never suspecting he was their own half-brother.
When they came upon a red-colored stream, the twin princes drank from it without a second thought. But the tortoise prince knew better, this was no ordinary stream, it was the leftover bathwater of a princess. To avoid stepping in it, he lifted his two half-brothers, one in each arm and leapt gracefully across to the other side.
Watching from her balcony, the princess was amazed. She had vowed to marry the man who could cross the stream without touching the water. She rushed to tell her father what she had seen and prepared to marry the mysterious stranger.
The tortoise prince agreed to the marriage on one condition, he would still wear the black soot that disguised him. After the ceremony, he revealed his true identity to his new bride and told her, “If I don’t return within 28 days, come find me at Himayagiri.”
The tortoise prince, still in disguise, continued the journey alongside the twin princes and soon they arrived a a second city, where a clever princess tested suitors with a riddle. At the gate, a man handed each traveler a pie and said, “Find me firewood, leaves, and oil, and return this pie.” Many tried and failed. But the charcoal-covered prince studied the puzzle. He plucked a sesame plant, its sturdy stem served as firewood, its green leaves fulfilled that requirement, and its tiny seeds provided oil. Triumphant, he handed the pie and the plant to the gatekeeper. Impressed, the princess soon welcomed him as her husband. True to his habit, he revealed his noble birth afterward and advised her: “If I do not return in time, travel to Himayagiri to find me.”
Off they went, still aiming north. Soon they arrived at a third city, where a learned princess, called a Pândita, challenged suitors to comment wisely on her book of philosophy. Confident, the charcoal-cover prince approached. Studying her words, he crafted a thoughtful response that pleased even the princess’s scholarly father. That very day, they married. At sunset, he shared his story, about his magical birth, his hidden shell, and his quest. The learned princess, moved by his honesty, instructed him on how to reach the mountain maiden: “Circle the mountain, touch the silver creeper hanging from its peak. It will carry you to her. Bow at her feet, call her ‘mother,’ and tell her your father seeks her hand.”
Armed with that guidance, the prince and his half-brothers finally reached Himayagiri’s snowy base. His brothers, unsure of how to ascend, hesitated. The prince found the fateful creeper, climbed swiftly, and bowed before the mountain princess. “My father, King Venkataja, wishes to marry you,” he announced. Impressed by his respect and grace, she agreed to come down with him. Just then, the prince realized he had left his golden scimitar atop the peak. He hurried back alone to retrieve it.
Seizing their chance, the jealous twin princes cut the rope holding the creeper. The prince plunged to the rocks below and died instantly.
The twin princes returned to the palace with the Himayagiri maiden. But her heart was heavy with guilt over what had happened to the tortoise prince. Hoping to bring him back to life, she decided to perform a penance. Without revealing the true reason, she asked the king to delay the wedding for six months. The king agreed and arranged everything needed for her rituals.
In the meantime the grief-stricken wives of the fallen prince gathered by his broken body. The learned Pândita remembered a ritual taught by her ancestors. With her guidance, the three wives performed prayers, chanted sacred mantras, and pieced together his remains. To everyone’s wonder, the prince returned to life.
The prince and his three wives visited each of their home kingdoms, where they were warmly welcomed with gifts and dowries. Afterward, the prince arranged a house just outside his hometown for his wives to stay in while he returned to the palace to share his story with his mother. Overjoyed to see her son alive and well, she listened eagerly to his adventures. Pleased with his wives, she soon visited them and brought them all back to live with her in the royal palace.
Six months later, the Himayagiri maiden still wondered if the prince lived. She devised one final test: “Bring me a golden lotus from beyond the seven oceans,” she told the king. “If my future husband’s sons brought me to the King, surely they can accomplish this task.” Deep down, she knew that only the Tortoise Prince was capable of completing such a task.
The guilt-ridden twins, haunted by their betrayal, made their way to the ocean shore. Just then, the Tortoise Prince appeared behind them, having foreseen their mission through his gift of inner sight. Calmly, he offered to retrieve the golden lotus himself. Following the guidance of his third wife, he began the daunting task. With seven pebbles, he drained each of the seven oceans one by one. At last, he reached the sacred waters of Akhilâdudakoti Brahmânda. There, he chanted a powerful summoning mantra, handed a note from his wife to a waiting Rakshasa, climbed onto a crocodile, and returned in triumph, golden lotus in hand.
Carrying his prize, he returned to the palace with his astonished brothers. Pleased and satisfied, the Himayagiri maiden finally agreed to the wedding. She made one special request that the king invite all the lords of the world and that his first wife, her son, and his three wives be the ones to give her away.
When the king visited his first wife, he was stunned to see her son, his son, alive and standing proudly with three princesses by his side. Not wanting to reveal his ignorance, he hid his surprise and invited them all to the grand wedding.
On the day of the ceremony, with kings and nobles gathered from far and wide, the Himayagiri maiden stood before them and shared what she knew of the Tortoise Prince, his birth, his mother, his journey, and his trials. Then the prince himself stepped forward to tell the part she didn’t know, how he had obtained the golden lotus from beyond the seven oceans.
Moved by the tale, the king embraced the Tortoise Prince as his son at last. He married the Himayagiri maiden, and the prince, now fully accepted, forgave his half-brothers for their betrayal. From that day forward, peace and harmony returned to the kingdom.
