Parvati: The Hindu Goddess Shakti

Description

Parvati is the gentle and nurturing aspect of Hindu goddess Shakti. She is the Hindu goddess of love, fertility and devotion. Also, She is the mother goddess in Hinduism and source of power and beauty. She is the perfect incarnation of Adi Para Sakthi. She has many attributes and aspects, each of her aspects is expressed with a different name, giving her over 108 names in regional Hindu mythologies of India. Along with Lakshmi (goddess of wealth and prosperity) and Saraswati (goddess of knowledge and learning), she forms the trinity of Hindu goddesses same as god trinity of Shiva Vishnu and Brahma.

Parvata is one of the Sanskrit words for "mountain"; "Parvati" derives her name from being the daughter of king Himavan (also called

She typically wears a red dress (often a sari), and may have a head-band. When depicted alongside Shiva, she generally appears with two arms, but when alone, she may be depicted having four. These hands may hold conch, crown, mirror, rosary, bell, dish, farming tool such as goad, sugarcane stalk, or flowers such as lotus. One of her arms in front may be in the Abhaya mudra (hand gesture for 'fear not '), one of her children, typically Ganesha, is on her knee, while her elder son Skanda may be playing near her in her watch. In ancient temples, Parvati 's sculpture is often depicted near a calf or cow - a source of food. Bronze has been the chief metal for her sculpture, while stone is next most common

Festivals and Vrats

Festivals associated with Goddesses Parvati are:

• The Gowri Habba, or Gauri Festival, is celebrated on the seventh, eighth, ninth of Bhadrapada (Shukla paksha). Parvati is worshipped as the goddess of harvest and protectress of women. Her festival, chiefly observed by women, is closely associated with the festival of her son Ganesha (Ganesh Chaturthi). The festival is popular in Maharashtra and Karnataka.

• In Rajasthan, Gauri is worshipped during the Gangaur festival, which commences on the first day of Chaitra, just the day following Holi. This festival continues for a period of 18 days. Images of Issar and Gauri are made from clay and worshipped during the festival.

• Another popular festival in reverence of Parvati is Navratri, in which all her manifestations are worshiped over nine days. Popular in eastern India, particularly in Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand and Assam, as well as several other parts of India such as Gujarat, this is associated with Durga, with her nine forms i.e. Shailputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandmata, Katyani, Kalratri, Mahagauri,