हिंदीOn this day
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The Devi

Mata Parvati

पार्वती

Daughter of Himavan and Mena, Sati reborn, who won Bhagwan Shiva by tapas; mother of Ganesha and Kartikeya, and the gentle face of the one Shakti whose fierce forms are Durga and Kali.

UmaGauri, the fair oneGirija, daughter of the mountainShailaputriAparna, who gave up even leaves in tapasAnnapurna
Vahana
The lion (in her Durga form); often shown on Nandi with Shiva
Consort
Bhagwan Shiva
Abode
Mount Kailash
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Cite

MLA

“Mata Parvati.” Hindu History, 2026, https://www.hinduhistory.in/devata/parvati/. Accessed .

APA

Hindu History. (2026). Mata Parvati. Retrieved , from https://www.hinduhistory.in/devata/parvati/

How they are shown

Beside Shiva she has two arms, one holding a blue lily or lotus, the body in a gentle tribhanga; seated on his left knee as Uma-Maheshvara, or with the infant Skanda between them as Somaskanda. Alone she may be four-armed. As Ardhanarishvara she is the left half of Shiva’s own body.

01From Sati to Parvati

As Sati, daughter of Daksha, she married Shiva against her father’s will. When Daksha held a great yajna and insulted her husband, she gave up her body in the sacrificial fire. Shiva carried her through the worlds in grief, and where the parts of her body fell, the Shakti Peethas arose; the lists count fifty-one or more. She was born again to Himavan and Mena as Parvati. The Shiva Purana’s Parvati Khanda and Kalidasa’s Kumarasambhava tell her tapas in the snows, until Shiva himself came disguised as a young brahmachari to test her.

02Uma who taught the devas

The Kena Upanishad has one of the oldest appearances of the Devi. After a victory the devas grew proud, and a mysterious being appeared that Agni could not burn and Vayu could not lift. When Indra approached, it vanished, and in its place stood a radiant woman, Uma Haimavati, daughter of the Himalaya, who told him it was Brahman that had won the victory (Kena Upanishad 3.12 to 4.1). Shaktas read in her the Adi Shakti; for Shaivas she is Shiva’s own power, never apart from him.

03Vratas of the household

Women across north India keep Hartalika Teej in Bhadrapada, fasting without water as Parvati fasted for Shiva. In Rajasthan, Gangaur fills the lanes for eighteen days after Holi with clay images of Gauri and Isar. Newly married women keep the Mangala Gauri vrat on the Tuesdays of Shravan. In Kashi she is Annapurna, the mother who feeds the world, and Shiva himself holds out his bowl to her for alms.

04Meenakshi, Kamakshi and the peethas

At Madurai she is Meenakshi, the fish-eyed princess of the Pandyas, whose wedding to Sundareswarar is enacted every year in the month of Chithirai. At Kanchipuram she sits in tapas as Kamakshi, worshipped as Lalita Tripurasundari before a Shri Chakra. On Kailash and around Mansarovar the pilgrims walk her parikrama with Shiva’s. In the Shakti Peethas she has a different name in each place, and Shiva stands beside her as Bhairava.

In the texts

  • Kena Upanishad 3.12–4.1 (Uma Haimavati)
  • Shiva Purana, Rudra Samhita, Sati and Parvati Khandas
  • Kumarasambhava of Kalidasa
  • Devi Bhagavata Purana

Utsav: festivals

Karva ChauthKartika Krishna Chaturthi (Ashvina in the amanta reckoning)GangaurChaitra Shukla Tritiya, closing eighteen days of worship that begin the day after HoliTeejHariyali Teej on Shravana Shukla Tritiya; Kajari Teej on Bhadrapada Krishna Tritiya; Hartalika Teej on Bhadrapada Shukla TritiyaHartalika TeejMangala Gauri VratMeenakshi Thirukalyanam (Chithirai)

Temples on this site 37

Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple, MaduraiRebuilt
Sultanates, Vijayanagara and the kingdoms that stood

Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple, Madurai

The temple of the fish-eyed Devi who ruled Madurai as a Pandya princess and married Shiva. Plundered in 1311, it was raised again by the Nayaks into the city of fourteen gopurams that stands today.

Kamakshi Amman Temple, KanchipuramStanding
Sultanates, Vijayanagara and the kingdoms that stood

Kamakshi Amman Temple, Kanchipuram

The seat of Devi Kamakshi, seated in padmasana, and in Kanchi the only shrine of the Devi, for all other temples in the town are said to have none of their own. Adi Shankaracharya installed the Shri Chakra before her.

Kailash and MansarovarStanding
Vedic Rishis and the Itihasa

Kailash and Mansarovar

The snow peak in western Tibet that Hindus know as the home of Shiva and Parvati, with the lake of Mansarovar at its foot. Jains, Buddhists and Bon followers hold it holy too, and no one has climbed it.

Gauri Shankar Temple, Chandni ChowkStanding
Maratha ascendancy and the Sikh empire

Gauri Shankar Temple, Chandni Chowk

The Shiva temple at the eastern end of Chandni Chowk, near the Red Fort, built in 1761 by a Maratha officer who vowed it after surviving a battle. Its linga is worshipped as one of the oldest in Delhi.

Uma Maheswara Temple, YagantiStanding
Sultanates, Vijayanagara and the kingdoms that stood

Uma Maheswara Temple, Yaganti

A Vijayanagara temple under the cliffs of the Erramala hills, where Shiva and Parvati are worshipped together in one murti, and where the stone Nandi in front is said to have grown so much that a pillar had to be removed.

Kamakhya TempleRebuilt
The Mughal era and the resistance

Kamakhya Temple

On Nilachal hill above the Brahmaputra stands the most revered of the Shakti Peethas of the east, where the Kalika Purana says the yoni of Mata Sati fell. There is no murti in the garbhagriha, only a cleft in the rock kept wet by a spring.

Agnipureeswarar Temple, TiruvanniyurStanding
Cholas and the Southern Seas

Agnipureeswarar Temple, Tiruvanniyur

Where Agni, barred from every yagna after Daksha’s sacrifice, worshipped with vanni leaves and was freed. Appar sang it.

Anekathangavadeswarar Temple, Kachi Anekathangavadam, KanchipuramStanding
Cholas and the Southern Seas

Anekathangavadeswarar Temple, Kachi Anekathangavadam, Kanchipuram

Anekapa is the elephant, the one who drinks with two mouths. Vinayaka himself set up and worshipped this linga, and Sundarar sang it. The name Kachi marks it off from the Anekathangavadam of the Himalaya.

Annapoorneshwari Temple, HoranaduRebuilt
Independent Bharat

Annapoorneshwari Temple, Horanadu

The Devi of food in the forested valley of the Bhadra, where every visitor, at any hour, is given a meal and a place to sleep.

Annapurna Temple, VaranasiStanding
Maratha ascendancy and the Sikh empire

Annapurna Temple, Varanasi

The temple of Annapurna beside Kashi Vishwanath, where Mahadev himself is said to beg his food. An 18th-century Annapurna murti stolen from Varanasi about a century ago came back from Canada and was installed in the Vishwanath Dham in November 2021.

Ardhanareeswarar Temple, TiruchengodeStanding
Cholas and the Southern Seas

Ardhanareeswarar Temple, Tiruchengode

On the red hill of Tiruchengode, Shiva is worshipped as Ardhanareeswarar, half Shiva and half Parvati. Here Sambandar sang the Tiruneelakanta padigam to free his companions from fever.

BAPS Hindu Mandir, Abu DhabiStanding
Independent Bharat

BAPS Hindu Mandir, Abu Dhabi

The first traditional stone Hindu mandir in the Middle East, built on land given by the UAE government. It was inaugurated on 14 February 2024, Vasant Panchami.

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