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Other names:Umaa, Dakshayani, Gauri, Sati

Lord Shiva’s consort Uma is also known as Parvati, Ambika, Annapurna, Bhairavi, Candi, Gauri, Durga, Jagadmata, Kali, Kanyakumari, Mahadevi, Shyama and Rudrani. The daughter of Himavat, the God of the Great Himalayan Mountains and the heavenly nymph Mena, she is also the sister of the sacred river Ganga. Uma is considered as the goddess of 'light' or the Lady of the Mountains. She is an ancient Mountain-goddess who imparts the vital virtue of balance to humanity. She has always been depicted as a beauty with benign power. The goddess is the ferocious form of Durga according to the Hindu scriptures. She has been given the tag of a mediator as she would always resolve the conflicts of heaven.

In her previous life, she was the daughter of Daksha Prajapati and was named Sati. Her father Daksha had organized a Yagya but did not invite Lord Shiva for the same. Sati went for the yagya, there on seeing Shiva being insulted; she got very angry and burnt herself in anger. In her next life, she was born as a daughter to Giriraj Himalaya and his wife Menaka. Himalaya and Menaka were overjoyed due to the birth of a daughter. Himalaya and Menaka’s daughter came to be known as Uma. Uma observed penance to get Shiva as her husband. Seeing her through staunch penance, her mother was very much worried and told her- U- ma which means “don’t do this.”Since then she came to be known as Uma. Pleased with her worship, Lord Shiva got married to her.Apart from being Shiva’s consort, Uma is also believed to be Shiva’s strength. It is believed that there is a portion of Uma existing in Devi Bhagwati Shakti. Pooja of Shiva is considered incomplete without Devi Uma’s pooja.

According to the description in the Puranas, demon king Pralayasur acquired ruinous strength and to destroy the grandeur of heaven, tried to kidnap Devi Ganga but Devi Uma made his efforts unsuccessful. Later, when demon king Hiranyakashyap wanted to kill his son Prahlad who was a devotee of Vishnu, then also Devi Uma helped Prahlad. Devi Uma in fact was the protector of the interest of the devtas and that is why all the devtas have great faith and devotion towards Devi Uma.