Gods and Goddesses of Nainital

Temple of goddesses Tara and tarani in Orissa, India Goddesses manifest the female side of divinity inherent in the universe. Although all goddesses represent the same universal force, they have been worshipped in various avatars and forms by humans. Some of these avatars although bearing different names bear a close relationship to each other whereas there are also some cases where different goddesses bear the same name. One such example is that of the lovely and gentle, yet powerful goddess Sunanda of Kumaon. There is also a goddess by the same name in Bangladesh but that goddess is in fact a modification of the name Sugandha that is an avatar of goddess Parvati, who also takes on the fearful avatars of Kali when the occasion calls for it, rather than goddess Sunanda. The Goddess Parvati and Goddess Nanda are regarded by many as different appearances of Parvati. Hence, the goddess Sunanda of Bangladesh may be regarded as another form of goddess Nanda rather than g...

Nanda Devi and Sunanda Devi I t was described in the last post that the goddesses Nanda and Sunanda occur together in mythology and worship. Nanda goddess means the Bliss giving goddess whereas Sunanda means the good bliss giving goddess. One may wonder why the prefix good is added to Sunanda when in fact Nanda is the more active and senior goddess. The reason is perhaps that Nanda Devi also takes on fearful avatars in mythology when she goes about conquering evil demons and at such times adding good is not necessary. Goddess Nanda Devi has been regarded  variously as a human representation of the Great Mother Goddess and even as that of Mother Earth. Goddess Sunanda has appeared in mythology and  history from time to time as the companion goddess or sister of this goddess. In nature the Nanda Devi mountain, one of the highest in the Himalayas is regarded as a sacred and majestic representation of the Great Goddess on Earth. It is a twin peak mountain in which th...