Gods, avatars and forms
Parvati
Uma · Gauri · Aparna · Shailaputri · Bhavani · Haimavati
Daughter of the mountain Himavat and Mena, the rebirth of Sati, who won Shiva as her husband by long austerity after…
Lakshmi
Shri · Padma · Kamala · Mahalakshmi
Goddess of fortune and radiance. The Rigveda speaks of Shri as prosperity and the Shri Sukta hymns her; the Shatapatha…
Savitri
Brahma's wife in the Pushkar cycle. She arrives late to his yajna, finds he has married Gayatri to complete the rite…
Meenakshi
Angayarkanni · Tadatagai
The fish-eyed goddess of Madurai, born with three breasts to the Pandya king Malayadhwaja and queen Kanchanamalai from…
Padmavati
Alamelu Manga · Alarmelmangai
Daughter of Akasha Raja and an incarnation of Lakshmi, married to Srinivasa at Narayanavanam; her shrine is at…
Saraswati
Vac · Sharada · Brahmani · Vagdevi
Goddess of speech, learning and the arts, and the most sensitive figure in Brahma's cycle: the Puranas make her his…
Sati
Dakshayani · Adi Shakti (in the yogic-fire telling)
Daksha's daughter and Shiva's first wife, who went uninvited to her father's sacrifice, was insulted, and gave up her…
Shatarupa
She of a hundred forms
The daughter of Brahma and, in the Brahma Purana, the first woman and the wife of Svayambhuva Manu; their children…
Sita
Rama's wife, found in a furrow and taken to Lanka by Ravana; returns with Rama to Ayodhya on the night the north keeps…
Jambavati
Krishna's queen, daughter of the bear-king Jambavan, whose wish for a son like Pradyumna sent Krishna to Upamanyu's…
Gayatri
The woman Brahma marries at Pushkar so that his yajna can go ahead when Savitri is late. In the temple telling she is a…
Rati
Kama's wife, who mourned his burning and smeared his ashes on herself; the Puranas promise her his return as Pradyumna…