Parvati, the Hindu goddess of love, devotion, beauty, marriage, and fertility, is of course, among the most important and revered deities in the Hindu faith. Given all that she represents, it is certainly no surprise. As the goddess of love, she’s known to be an especially benevolent figure. She is likewise revered as the Mother goddess in Hinduism, who is known to be kind, gentle, nurturing, and loving. She is considered to be a voice of reason, freedom, strength and encouragement. However, there are also aspects of her that are destructive, violent, fierce and ferocious. Her contrasting natures show Parvati as a figure who is able and willing to adapt to Pratima or reality and what the circumstances call for or require from her as the mother goddess.
The name Parvati comes from Sanskrit and means “daughter of the mountains” or “she of the mountains”. A fitting name for Parvati who is, in fact, the daughter of Himavat. Himavat is considered to be the very embodiment of the Himalayan mountains and his wife Mena is said to originate from the asparas, which is a group of female cloud and mountain spirits. Aside from the name Parvati, the goddess of love is called by many other appellations, including Uma, Shailaja, Girirajaputri, Haimavathi, Lalitha, Gowri, Aparna, and Shivakamini, just to name a few.