Annapurna (goddess)
Annapurna (Bengali: অন্নপূর্ণা , Sanskrit अन्नपूर्णा annapūrṇā “the rich in food”, while anna means “food” and pūrṇa “filled; full of”), also called Vishalakshi , is a Hindu female deity who is the goddess of the house, the harvest , rice, everyday bread, cooking, abundance and food is revered. It also bestows the gift of good cooking. Annapurna should make sure that no one goes hungry. She is considered a form of the mother goddess Parvati and as a woman and Shakti Shivas . She is seen as the sustainer of wealth. It is believed that whoever fills the stomachs of the hungry with food is imbued with the powers of Godhead. In the Hindu faith the deity is endowed with the authority to deliver food in unlimited quantities. It is believed that whoever worships them will never suffer from food shortages in life. It symbolizes the divine aspect of nurturing care and heavenly care. The deity is also worshiped as the goddess of fertility, wealth and agriculture, especially in South India where she is very popular and where many different shrines are dedicated to her. The most famous temple of Annapurna is in Kashi (also called Varanasi or Benares ) in India . In addition to her husband Shiva, who is venerated there as Vishvanatha , she is considered Queen of Kashi. Another important place of worship is the Annapoorneshwari Temple in Horanadu , about 100 km west of Chikmagalur in the southern Indian state of Karnataka . Annapurna is the supreme goddess and queen of Kashi. It is said that she will not eat anything herself until all of her followers are adequately nourished in her temple there. Annapurna is also called the Mother of the Three Worlds (Triloka) . In her 108-name hyme she is associated not only with the giving of food but also with wisdom and aversion to the world.
iconography
Medieval depictions of Annapurna are almost unknown in India and can only be found sporadically in Nepal . The goddess is shown standing with all kinds of jewelry; in one hand she holds a jeweled pot filled with porridge - in the other hand a pan or a spoon to distribute the food to supplicants. The goddess wears jewelry on her wrist. In some modern representations she is shown in a sitting position and Shiva is usually begging with a begging bowl in the shape of a skullcap for food in front of her. Annapurna fills his bowl with her spoon. Your body color is red. She often sits on a throne or lotus .
mythology
A myth very popular in India and Nepal relates the following: One day Shiva and Parvati were playing a game of dice. The game got so interesting that bets were placed on it. Parvati put her jewels and Shiva his trident. Shiva lost the game and with it his trident. In order to win him again, Shiva this time bet his snake and lost again. When the game finally ended, Shiva lost everything he had, including his begging bowl. Shiva, humiliated, withdrew into a forest, where the god Vishnu approached him, who asked him if he wanted to play again in order to regain everything he had lost. Taking his advice, Shiva agreed and regained everything he had lost in the previous game. But the goddess Parvati became suspicious of Shiva's sudden lucky streak and called him a cheater. This led to a verbal duel between the spouses. Finally, Vishnu intervened and said that the stones were moved as he wished and that they were only under the illusion that they were playing.
The verbal argument soon turned into a philosophical discussion and Shiva said that possessions are temporary. Everything is Maya and the food we eat is Maya. Symbolically, life is like a game of dice - unpredictable and out of control. But Parvati disagreed that food is just an illusion. She argued that if food is only an illusion, it is also only an illusion. She wanted to know what the world would be like if it had to survive without food and disappeared. Their disappearance meant the standstill of nature - there were no more seasonal changes; everything remained sterile, there was no regeneration and birth. Soon there was severe drought and food shortages.
Shiva soon realized that he was incomplete without Shakti. Gods ( devas ), humans and demons ( asuras ) begged for food. The goddess Parvati could not bear her children starving to death and appeared in Kashi , where she started distributing food. Shiva appeared before her with a begging bowl and Parvati fed him. Shiva realized that food cannot be dismissed as a mere illusion and that it is necessary to nourish the body that carries the Atman . Since then, Parvati has been worshiped as Annapurna, goddess of food. The myth makes it clear that salvation ( moksha ) cannot be achieved without food.
Ritual and worship
Annapurna is revered in many Hindu households. The pictures of Annapurna can be found in kitchens, restaurants and near the table where the food is prepared and where the food is only served after getting up for the Annapurna blessing. When people in Hindu households throw away leftovers, it is believed that this arouses their anger. That is why crumbs of food are not wasted after eating. The goddess is worshiped on the fourth day of Durga - Navaratri . During the Annakuta (" mountain of food ") festival , a mountain of food is actually erected to fill their temple. During a festival in spring that she associates with the sprouting rice, her image and temple are adorned with green rice shoots.
Remarks
The Annapurna Himal mountain group with the eight-thousander Annapurna and its secondary peaks in the Himalayas in Nepal bear the name of the goddess.
literature
- Jan Knappert: Lexicon of Indian Mythology. Heyne, Munich, 1994, ISBN 3-453-07817-9 , p. 51 Annapurna
- Swami Satyananda Saraswati: Annapurna Puja and Sahasranam . ISBN 18-87472-85-1
Web links
- Annapurna quick facts
- Annapurna - Info (English)
- Annapurna - Image + tooltips (English)
- Annapurna - Image + tooltips (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Klaus Mylius, Sanskrit – German / German – Sanskrit Dictionary, Wiesbaden 2005, ISBN 3-447-05143-4
- ↑ Jan Knappert: Lexicon of Indian Mythology. Munich 1994, p. 51
- ↑ Annapoorneshwari Temple at karnatakavision.com
- ↑ Annapurna at boloji.com ( Memento of the original from October 16, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ David R. Kinsley: Hindu Goddesses Visions of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition . University of California Press, Berkeley, Los Angeles, London, Mahadevi , p. 143
