Goddess of Power and Devotion
Parvati is the goddess of power, love, and devotion, and the consort of Shiva. She is the gentle, nurturing form of the supreme goddess, or Shakti, and her fierce aspects include the warriors Durga and Kali. With Shiva she completes the divine pair whose union sustains cosmic balance.
Her name means "daughter of the mountain" in Sanskrit, from parvata ("mountain"), as she is the child of Himavan, the personified Himalayas. She is also known as Uma and as Gauri, "the fair one."
Parvati won Shiva through unwavering devotion. After the death of his first wife Sati, Shiva withdrew into deep meditation, and Parvati performed severe austerities to draw him back into the world. Their reunion restored fertility to the cosmos. She is the mother of Ganesha, whom she is said to have formed from turmeric paste on her own body to guard her door.
Parvati is, in fact, held to be Sati reborn: after Sati immolated herself in protest at her father Daksha's insult to Shiva, she was reincarnated as the daughter of the mountain king Himavan, resuming her devotion to Shiva in a new life (recounted in detail on the Wikipedia entry on Parvati). With her husband and son she completes a compact family often depicted together as the model Hindu household, and after Ganesha she is also mother to Kartikeya (Skanda), the god of war. Beyond her gentle form, Parvati's fierce emanations — Durga astride her lion in battle against the buffalo-demon Mahishasura, and Kali, dark and garlanded with skulls — are honored separately in the autumn festival of Navaratri, "nine nights," which culminates in Durga's victory and the tenth-day celebration of Dussehra. As the shakti of Shiva, she stands alongside Lakshmi as one of the two goddesses whose power completes the Trimurti within Hindu mythology.
Titles & Epithets
- Uma — an early name meaning "light" or "splendor"
- Gauri — "the fair one," used especially before her marriage to Shiva
- Shakti — "power" or "energy," her role as the animating force behind Shiva
- Haimavati — "daughter of Himavan," her mountain lineage
- Annapurna — "giver of food," a nurturing form worshipped for sustenance
Common Questions
How did Parvati create Ganesha?
She is said to have shaped him from turmeric paste from her own body and gave him life to stand guard at her door.
Are Durga and Kali the same as Parvati?
They are fierce manifestations of the same goddess, the Shakti that Parvati embodies in her gentler, devoted form.
Is Parvati a reincarnation of Sati?
Yes — tradition holds that after Sati's self-immolation, she was reborn as Parvati, daughter of the mountain king Himavan, and eventually won Shiva's devotion a second time.
