Kanyakubja means the city of hunchbacked maidens. The story
of this sad city is associated with a curse of Vayu.
Kushanabh was the king of Mahodayapur. He married Ghritachi,
an apsara or heavenly damsel.
They had several daughters. They were as beautiful as their heavenly
maiden mother.
The beautiful maidens were proud of their beauty. And this
pride led to their downfall.
Vayu, the Hindu God of wind, approached the maidens for
marriage. But they refused the proposal by saying that He was not of their
standards.
An angry Vayu cursed them to become hunchbacks or Kubja.
From then onwards the capital city of King Kushanabh came to
be known as Kanyakubja.