Gauri · Uma · The daughter of the mountain
Parvati
Goddess Parvati, also Gauri and Uma, is the daughter of the Himalaya who won Lord Shiva by her tapas, the mother of Lord Ganesha and Lord Kartikeya, and the same Goddess as Durga. Chant her mantra, keep Teej and her vrats, and see when her days fall in your city.
- Her day
- Tuesday
- Next: Tue 3 Nov
- Next Parvati day
- Maha Shivratri, her wedding night
- In 125 days · Sat 6 Mar
Item 1 of 8 · The red powder of marriage
Sindoor
The red powder a married woman wears in the parting of her hair, the first sign of suhaag. It is offered to her at her vrats, with the other items of the suhaag thali.
Her days and vrats →Item 2 of 8 · The dot on the forehead
Bindi
The red dot worn between the brows, held one of the most important of the sixteen adornments. Women offer one to Gauri at Teej and at the Mangla Gauri vrat.
Item 3 of 8 · Chudiyan, of glass or lac
Bangles
Glass or lac bangles, worn green at Hariyali Teej, the colour of the rains. A set of bangles is in every list of the suhaag items offered to her.
Item 4 of 8 · Henna on the hands
Mehendi
Henna drawn on the hands the day before Teej, on Sinjara, and through the days of Gangaur. A little is offered to her too, with the other items of the thali.
Item 5 of 8 · The black of the lashes
Kajal
The soot-black kohl kept in a small lidded pot, worn along the lashes. It is among the suhaag items the lists of Hartalika Teej name for her.
Item 6 of 8 · Mahawar, red for the feet
Alta
Alta, also mahawar, the red dye painted round the edges of the feet of a bride and a married woman. It is offered to her with the sindoor, the two reds of suhaag.
Item 7 of 8 · Toe rings of silver
Bichhiya
The silver rings a married woman wears on her toes. A pair is set in the thali for Gauri, among the items both lists of Hartalika Teej name.
Item 8 of 8 · Kanghi, for her hair
Comb
A comb, for dressing her hair as a bride’s is dressed. With it the thali is complete; after the puja many give its items to a married woman of the family, as a gift of suhaag.
Tap an item, or its name, to read what it is. These eight are the ones the lists of Hartalika Teej agree on. Families add others, up to the solah shringar, the sixteen adornments, and the lists differ by custom.
Her days, in your city
Dates and puja times for the city you pick
For New Delhi
The great night of Lord Shiva, kept in many traditions as the night Shiva and Goddess Parvati were married.
- Every Tuesday
- Tue 3 NovHer day of the week
- Gangaur
- Fri 9 Apr
- Mangla Gauri vrat
- Tue 20 July
- Hariyali Teej
- Wed 4 Aug
- Hartalika Teej
- Fri 3 Sept
- Sharad Navratri
- Thu 30 Sept8:06 am to 10:12 am
- Durga Ashtami
- Thu 7 Oct6:04 am to 6:52 am, 8 Oct
- Karwa Chauth
- Mon 18 Oct7:35 pm
Bow to Parvati and Shiva
वागर्थाविव संपृक्तौ वागर्थप्रतिपत्तये।
जगतः पितरौ वन्दे पार्वतीपरमेश्वरौ॥
Vagarthaviva sampriktau vagarthapratipattaye,
Jagatah pitarau vande Parvati-Parameshvarau.
For the gift of words and their meaning, I bow to the parents of the world, Parvati and Parameshvara, joined as a word is joined to its meaning.
शब्द और उसके अर्थ की समझ के लिए मैं जगत के माता-पिता, पार्वती और परमेश्वर को प्रणाम करता हूँ, जो शब्द और अर्थ की तरह एक हैं।
The first verse of the Raghuvamsha, the long poem Kalidasa wrote in about the fifth century. He bows to Goddess Parvati and Lord Shiva as the mother and father of the world, as close to each other as a word and what it means.
Her prayers
- Vagarthaviva SampriktauKalidasa’s verse to the parents of the worldSoon
- Sarva Mangala MangalyeFrom the Devi Mahatmya, to the Goddess as GauriSoon
- Uma Maheshvara StotramA hymn to Shiva and Parvati togetherSoon
- Jai Ambe GauriThe aarti of Durga, which opens with the name GauriRead
A simple Tuesday or Teej puja
Gauri is worshipped above all by women, on the Tuesdays of Shravana and at Teej, with Lord Shiva beside her. At home a short and calm puja is enough. Follow your family’s way where it differs.
- Clean the place of worship, and set a picture of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati on a red cloth; for Teej, many make small images of the two from sand or clay.
- Light a ghee lamp before them.
- Offer kumkum, akshata and flowers, saying Om Parvatyai Namah with each.
- Offer the suhaag items, sindoor, a bindi, bangles and mehendi, with a red chunri.
- Offer fruit and sweets as naivedyam, and say Sarva Mangala Mangalye.
- Wave the lamp in aarti, share the prasad, and give the suhaag items to a married woman of the family.
What you need
- A picture of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, or images of sand or clay
- A ghee lamp
- Kumkum, akshata and flowers
- Sindoor, a bindi, bangles, mehendi and a red chunri
- Fruit and sweets for naivedyam
- A mala for the mantra
Prayers for the puja
- Jai Ambe GauriRead
Who is Parvati
Goddess Parvati, also called Gauri and Uma, is the daughter of Himavan, king of the Himalayas, and his queen Mena; her name means she of the mountain. In her birth before she was Sati, daughter of Daksha, who gave up her life in the fire of her father’s sacrifice when he insulted Lord Shiva, her husband.
Born again, she set her heart on Lord Shiva, the yogi lost in meditation, and went to the forest to win him by tapas, with long fasting and prayer. Shiva tested her and was won, and they were married. She is the mother of Lord Ganesha and Lord Kartikeya, and with Shiva she makes her home on Kailash.
She is the same Goddess as Durga, the warrior, and Goddess Kali, the dark one, and as Goddess Annapurna she gives food to the world. In the Kena Upanishad, as Uma Haimavati, she teaches the gods that their power was Brahman’s. Women worship her as Gauri for a happy marriage, at Teej, Gangaur and Karwa Chauth.
- Gauri the fair or golden one
- Uma her name in the Kena Upanishad and the Ramayana
- Haimavati the daughter of the Himalaya
- Girija born of the mountain
- Shailaputri the daughter of the mountain, her first form in Navratri
- Annapurna the giver of food
ॐ पार्वत्यै नमः
Om Parvatyai Namah
I bow to Parvati. It is her name mantra, said with each offering in her puja, and on a mala of 108 beads.
पार्वती को मेरा नमन। यह उनका नाम मंत्र है, जो उनकी पूजा में हर चढ़ावे के साथ और 108 मनकों की माला पर जपा जाता है।
सर्वमङ्गलमाङ्गल्ये शिवे सर्वार्थसाधिके।
शरण्ये त्र्यम्बके गौरि नारायणि नमोऽस्तु ते॥
Sarva mangala mangalye, shive sarvartha sadhike,
Sharanye tryambake Gauri, Narayani namostute.
Most auspicious of all that is auspicious, gracious one who fulfils every aim, refuge, three-eyed Gauri, Narayani: I bow to you.
सब मंगलों में सबसे मंगलमयी, हर उद्देश्य पूरा करने वाली कल्याणी, शरण देने वाली, तीन नेत्रों वाली गौरी, नारायणी: आपको नमन।
Teej, Gangaur and her vrats
When women worship her as Gauri
Hartalika Teej
The Tritiya of the bright half of Bhadrapada, in August or September. Women keep a nirjala fast, without even water, and worship images of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati made of sand or clay through the night. Its name is told from harat and alika: her friends hid her in the forest so that her father could not give her to Lord Vishnu.
Hariyali Teej
The Tritiya of the bright half of Shravana, in the rains, a month before Hartalika: the day Lord Shiva accepted her as his wife. Women wear green, put on mehendi the day before, swing under the trees and sing, and daughters receive gifts from their mothers’ homes.
Gangaur
In Rajasthan Gauri is worshipped with Isar, Lord Shiva, from the day after Holi to the Tritiya of the bright half of Chaitra. Women and girls make clay images of the two, and on the last days carry them in procession to a lake or a well, as in Jaipur and at Udaipur’s Gangaur Ghat.
Mangla Gauri vrat
Kept on each Tuesday of Shravana by newly married women, by one custom for the first five years of marriage, for a long and happy married life. Gauri is offered the sixteen items of shringar and the story of the vrat is told.
Gowri Habba
In Karnataka she is worshipped as Gowri on the day before Ganesha Chaturthi, the Tritiya of the bright half of Bhadrapada. Married women offer her and exchange the bagina, a gift of turmeric, kumkum, bangles and sweets, and tradition says her son comes the next day to take her home to Kailash.
Karwa Chauth
The fourth day of the waning moon after Sharad Purnima. Married women fast from sunrise to moonrise for their husbands, worship Gauri with Lord Shiva and Lord Ganesha in the evening, and break the fast when the moon is seen.
Parvati and the Navadurga
Goddess Durga and Goddess Parvati are one Goddess
Goddess Parvati and Goddess Durga are one Goddess: Durga is the name she took as a warrior. The Navadurga, the nine forms worshipped on the nine nights of Navratri, are read as the stages of her life, from the girl of the mountain to the giver of every power. Four of them are told here.
Shailaputri
The daughter of the mountain, worshipped on the first night: Goddess Parvati as a girl, Sati born again to Himavan, riding the bull Nandi.
Brahmacharini
The second night: Goddess Parvati in her long tapas to win Lord Shiva, walking barefoot with a rosary and a water pot.
Skandamata
The fifth night: the mother of Skanda, whom she holds on her lap.
Mahagauri
The eighth night, Durga Ashtami: after her tapas Lord Shiva washed her in the Ganga and she shone white as the moon.
What her symbols mean
The mountain
She is the daughter of the Himalaya, and her names Goddess Parvati, Girija, Haimavati and Shailaputri all say so.
The lotus
Held in many of her images, as Shailaputri holds it with her trident: purity, rising clean from the water.
The lion
Her mount, with the tiger, above all in her warrior forms as Goddess Durga.
Sindoor and bangles
The signs of suhaag, a happy married life, offered to her as Gauri by women on her vrats.
The ladle and bowl
Held by Goddess Annapurna, the form in which she feeds the world, and Lord Shiva too.
Kailash
Her home with Lord Shiva and their sons, the mountain pilgrims walk round with Manasarovar below it.
Her stories
Across India
Rajasthan
Gangaur, the great festival of Gauri: from the day after Holi women worship clay images of Gauri and Isar, and on the last days carry them in procession to the water, from the City Palace in Jaipur and to Gangaur Ghat in Udaipur.
Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh
Hartalika Teej is kept with a nirjala fast and a night of prayer before images of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati made of sand or clay, which are worshipped with sindoor and then given to the water.
Punjab and Haryana
Hariyali Teej, Teeyan in Punjab, in the rains: swings under the trees, green clothes and bangles, mehendi, and the sindhara, gifts from a mother to her married daughter.
Maharashtra
Hartalika is kept the day before Ganesh Chaturthi, with mehendi and new red or green saris, and a bride’s first Mangla Gauri on the Tuesdays of Shravana is kept with special joy.
Karnataka
Gowri Habba, the day before Ganesha Chaturthi, when married women worship Gowri and exchange the bagina, a gift of turmeric, kumkum, bangles and sweets.
Tamil Nadu
At Madurai she is Meenakshi, whose wedding to Lord Shiva as Sundareshwarar is the heart of the Chithirai festival; at the tip of India she is Devi Kanya Kumari, who did her tapas by the sea to marry Shiva.
Uttarakhand
On the road to Kedarnath, Gauri Kund is held to be where she did her tapas, and nearby Triyuginarayan where she was married.
Her temples
- Meenakshi Amman TempleMadurai, Tamil Nadu
- Devi Kanya Kumari TempleKanyakumari, Tamil Nadu
- Vishalakshi TempleVaranasi, Uttar Pradesh
- Annapurna Devi MandirVaranasi, Uttar Pradesh
- Gauri Kund and its Gauri templeGaurikund, Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand
- Triyuginarayan TempleTriyuginarayan, Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand
- Kamakhya Temple, a Shakti Peetha of SatiNilachal Hill, Guwahati, Assam
Questions
When is Karwa Chauth in 2027?
Karwa Chauth, when married women fast and worship her, is on Monday 18 October 2027 in New Delhi, with the muhurat 7:35 pm. Pick your city at the top of this page for its own date and muhurat.
Who is Goddess Parvati?
The daughter of Himavan, king of the Himalayas, and Mena; the wife of Lord Shiva, whom she won by her tapas; and the mother of Lord Ganesha and Lord Kartikeya. She is also called Gauri and Uma, and she is the same Goddess as Durga.
Are Goddess Parvati and Goddess Durga the same?
Yes: Goddess Durga is the name she took as a warrior, after defeating the demon Durgama, as the Skanda Purana tells. The Navadurga, the nine forms of Navratri, are read as the stages of her life, from Shailaputri, the daughter of the mountain, to Siddhidatri.
Is Goddess Parvati Sati?
Sati was her birth before. Sati, the daughter of Daksha and the wife of Lord Shiva, gave up her life at her father’s sacrifice, and was born again as Goddess Parvati, the daughter of Himavan, to marry Shiva once more.
Who is Uma Haimavati?
The Goddess as she appears in the Kena Upanishad (3.12): a shining woman, the daughter of the Himalaya, who tells Indra that the spirit the gods could not know was Brahman. Uma and Haimavati are both names of Goddess Parvati.
What is Hartalika Teej?
Her vrat on the Tritiya of the bright half of Bhadrapada, in August or September, kept by women with a fast without water and a night of prayer to Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. It recalls the friends who hid her in the forest, where she won Shiva by her fast.
Which day is Goddess Parvati’s?
No weekday is hers alone. The Mangla Gauri vrat is kept on the Tuesdays of Shravana, so this page shows Tuesday. Her great days in the year are the Teejs, Gangaur and Karwa Chauth, so follow your family’s custom.
What is the mantra of Goddess Parvati?
Her name mantra is Om Parvatyai Namah. Sarva Mangala Mangalye, from the Devi Mahatmya, is said to her as Gauri, and Kalidasa’s verse Vagarthaviva Sampriktau bows to her with Lord Shiva as the parents of the world.
Where did Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati marry?
By tradition at Triyuginarayan in Uttarakhand, where the fire said to have burned since their wedding is kept alight. In many traditions their wedding is remembered on Maha Shivratri.
What is offered to Goddess Parvati at Teej?
The suhaag items of a married woman: sindoor, a bindi, bangles, mehendi, kajal, alta, toe rings and a comb, with a red chunri, flowers and sweets. The lists differ by custom, up to the sixteen adornments of the solah shringar.