The festival is associated with several Puranic myths. Their underlying idea calls forth what was at issue during the rainy season and centers on the notion, which holds true for ancestors as well, that underworld creatures play a crucial role in the acquisition of wealth. A well-known myth relates how the dwarf Vamana (an incarnation of Visnu) asked Bali to grant him as much land as he could cover in three steps. The generous demon king agreed. To his amazement, two of the dwarf’s steps covered the earth and the sky; the third, planted on Bali’s head, sent the demon to the underworld, a region that become his domain. For his generosity, Bali was then allowed to come to the surface of the earth during Divali in order to bestow wealth on human beings.