I Shoot Goddess Gauri With A Poetic Passion

I Shoot Goddess Gauri With A Poetic Passion, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

“Gauri’s themes are spring, protection, fertility, harvest, beauty, humor, youthfulness, wishes and equality. Her symbols are balsam, golden-colored items, milk, mirrors and lions. This fertile Hindu Goddess extends spring-like youth, beauty and tenderness into our lives. Gauri has a sympathetic ear for all human needs and wishes. In works of art She is depicted as a fair maiden, attended by lions and bearing wild balsam and a mirror. She was born of a milky sea, and Her name translates as ‘golden one’, indicating a connection with the sun. She is offered rice to ensure a good rice crop.
Holi is India’s most colorful festival, filled with Gauri’s equitable spirit. It celebrates an epic tale in which the sun (Gauri) is freed from a god’s mouth by getting him to laugh! Customarily, caste restrictions are shed today in order for people to simply have fun. Everyone squirts colored water at one another, and by the end of the day, no one can tell who is a servant and who is a king! This translates into a good-humored water-balloon toss. Focus on a goal while you play. When a balloon breaks, it releases Gauri’s youthful joy and productivity into your life.
Hindu custom suggests eating sweets to generate Gauri’s beauty and pleasantness in your spirit today. Or, pour Her a libation of milk while making a wish for something you’d like to ‘harvest’ in your life. Hang balsam in your home to foster Gauri’s fairness in your family’s interactions.”
(Patricia Telesco, “365 Goddess: a daily guide to the magic and inspiration of the goddess”.)

Goddess Gauri is one of the manifestations of Goddess Parvati. She is the divine energy, Mother Goddess. She is considered as a perfect wife for Her husband, Lord Shiva. She is a clear representation of purity and austerity. She is the Kanya (Kumari or unmarried girl) who performed severe tapas (penance) to marry Lord Shiva. After the conclusion of Her ferocious form Goddess Kali, She observed a severe penance to get rid of Her black complexion.
In another version I read, Parvati first sought out Shiva to seduce him, Shiva found Her dark skin to be unattractive. Parvati retreated into the forest, where She lived a very austere life, developing Her spiritual powers. Brahma took notice of Parvati’s mastery of Her physical self, and decided to grant Her one wish. Parvati asked that Her dark skin be taken away, so that Shiva would love Her. Brahma took the darkness and created the Goddess Kali with it, leaving Parvati with golden skin, and She became the Goddess Gauri. Because of Her golden color, She is associated with rice and grains, taking on the role of a fertility Goddess.
Gowri Puja is an important ritual during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival. Married women worship Goddess Gowri with Sindoor or kumkum for their sowbhagyam (marital bliss). Unmarried girls worship Her in order to get virtuous husbands. One prays to Goddess Gauri because according to Puranas, She is the Divine Mother and the origin of the Universe. Mother Goddess, Shakti, has various celestial manifestations like Goddess Sri Raja Rajeshwari, Goddess Gauri, Lalitha Tripura Sundari Devi, etc. [1][2][3]

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