Devi first married Shiva in the form of Sati, the devoted wife who burned herself to death in a sacrificial fire to defend Shiva's honor (an act that led to the practice of suttee or wife-burning in India). After Devi's death, Shiva was so distraught that he lost all interest in his position as the military commander of the gods. As a result, the demons defeated the gods and drove them from their kingdom. The gods restored Devi to Shiva by having her reborn as Parvati. For the gods realized that the marriage of Parvati and Shiva would help them by resulting in the birth of Karttikeya, the great god of war. Though devoted to one another, Parvati and Shiva's marital relations were far from ideal, and there is a large canon of tales concerning their quarrels. Parvati is also the mother of the beloved deity, Ganesh, the potbellied god with the head of an elephant. This page is design by Regha Pal © 1999 Bharata Natyam E-mail: regha@tamilnet.net.au