[1] In the Tirtha-yatra Parva of the Mahabharata, the devas requested Sage Agastya to drink the ocean where the kalakeyas resided, so that they may be defeated in battle.
In retaliation, Indra tasked his son, Arjuna, with the mission of destroying the nivatakavachas, accompanied by his own charioteer, Matali.
The boon had been sought by two asura women named Puloma and Kala, who wished that their sons, the paulomas and the kalakeyas, would be invincible against the devas, the nagas, and the rakshasas.
Arjuna attacked Hiranyapura, and the danavas within mounted a powerful defence, boasting skilled warriors and numerous chariots that manouvered artfully against him.
Arjuna employed the astra of Shiva against them, which gave rise to various monstrous, multiple-headed beasts that finally devoured the male inhabitants of the city, and the survivors were slain by the prince's barrage of arrows.