Gauri

(“fair”) Epithet of the goddess Parvati,
wife of the god Shiva. According to a
story from the Shiva Purana, a sectarian text recounting the mythology of
Shiva, Parvati takes offense when
Shiva refers to her as Kali (“black”).
She performs harsh physical austerities (tapas) to accumulate the power to
rid herself of her dark complexion.
When this is accomplished, she
receives the epithet Gauri to signify
her new and lightened complexion.
This story illustrates the pervasive religious belief that physical hardship can
give one spiritual and even magical
powers, a conviction that is still found
in contemporary India. This brief story
also reveals the stigma that Indian
society attributes to people with dark
complexions—a prejudice that persists
in modern times.