Parvati is the goddess of the mountain, consort of Shiva and mother of Ganesha and Kartikeya. Reborn from Sati, daughter of Himavan and Mena, she won Shiva through intense penance. She is the gentle form of the Goddess, who also appears as Durga and Kali.
Who is Parvati?
Parvati (पार्वती), “she of the mountain”, is the consort of Shiva and the mother of Ganesha and Kartikeya. She is the gentle, nurturing form of the great Goddess, Devi, and the same power that appears in fierce forms as Durga and Kali. With Shiva she forms the divine couple of Kailash, and in the image of Ardhanarishvara the two are shown as one body, half male and half female.
Who was Parvati before she was born?
The Shiva Purana tells that Shiva’s first wife was Sati, daughter of the patriarch Daksha. When Daksha held a great sacrifice and pointedly did not invite Shiva, Sati went anyway, and when her father insulted her husband in front of the assembly she gave up her life in the sacrificial fire. Shiva, in grief and fury, sent his fierce form Virabhadra to destroy the sacrifice, then withdrew into deep meditation. Sati was reborn as Parvati, daughter of Himavan, king of the Himalaya, and his queen Mena.
How did Parvati win Shiva?
The gods needed a son of Shiva, because the demon Taraka had a boon that only such a son could kill him, but Shiva was lost in meditation. Kamadeva, the god of love, was sent to stir his heart and was burned to ashes by Shiva’s third eye. Parvati then chose another way. She went into the forest and performed austerities so severe that she gave up even the eating of leaves, earning the name Aparna. Shiva came to her disguised as a young ascetic and mocked the god she longed for; when she defended Shiva and turned to leave, he revealed himself and agreed to marry her. Kalidasa’s Sanskrit poem Kumarasambhava (5th century) tells this story in some of the finest verse in the language.
Parvati’s children
- Ganesha — In the Shiva Purana Parvati shapes a boy from the turmeric paste she used while bathing and sets him to guard her door. Shiva, not knowing him, cuts off his head when he blocks the way, and then restores him with the head of an elephant. See The Birth of Ganesha.
- Kartikeya — The warrior god born to destroy Taraka, also called Skanda and Murugan.
Names and forms of Parvati
Parvati is known by many names: Uma, Gauri (the fair one), Girija and Shailaja (daughter of the mountain), Haimavati, Aparna, Ambika and Bhavani. Her forms include Durga the warrior goddess, Kali the dark goddess of time, Annapurna the giver of food at Varanasi, Kamakshi at Kanchipuram and Meenakshi at Madurai, where her wedding to Shiva as Sundareshvara is celebrated every year. In Navratri the first of the nine Durgas, Shailaputri, is Parvati as daughter of the mountain.
How is Parvati worshipped?
Women keep many fasts to Parvati for a happy marriage: Hartalika Teej and Hariyali Teej in North India, Gangaur in Rajasthan, Mangala Gauri on the Tuesdays of Shravan, and Gauri puja during Ganesh Chaturthi in Maharashtra. She is worshipped together with Shiva on Maha Shivaratri and as Durga during Navratri.
