Parvati
Indian mythology · deity · love, fertility, devotion, power
Daughter of the mountain Himavan who won the ascetic Shiva through her own fierce austerities. Mother of Ganesha and Kartikeya, she is the gentle face of the same great Goddess whose fierce forms are Durga and Kali.
Stories
The Race Around the World
Offered a prize for whichever son first circles the world, Kartikeya launches himself around the oceans on his peacock. Ganesha walks a slow circle around Shiva and Parvati and sits down: his parents are the world. The wit wins, and Narada, who proposed the contest, enjoys it immensely.
The Birth of Kartikeya
Only a son of Shiva can kill the demon Taraka, and Shiva has been in meditation since Kamadeva burned for interrupting him. Parvati's austerity finally wins the god; the child's unbearable seed passes through Agni and Ganga to be born as six-faced Kartikeya, who takes command of heaven's armies and ends Taraka.