Parvati was told by her consort Shiva that the world is an illusion and that food is a part of this illusion called maya The Divine Mother who is worshiped as the manifestation of all material things, including food, became angry. To demonstrate the importance of her manifestation of all that is material, she disappeared from the world. Her disappearance brought time to a standstill and the earth became barren. There was no food to be found anywhere, and all the beings suffered from the pangs of hunger. Seeing all the suffering, Mother Parvati was filled with compassion and reappeared in Kashi and set up a kitchen. Hearing about her return, Shiva ran to her and presented his bowl in alms, saying, "Now I realize that the material world, like the spirit, cannot be dismissed as an illusion. "Parvati smiled and fed Shiva with her own hands. Since then Parvati is worshiped as Annapurna, the goddess of Nourishment.

The Agamas (religious texts) describe the iconography of Annapoorna as a youthful goddess having red complexion with a face round like full moon, three eyes, high breasts and four hands. The lower left hand is depicted holding a vessel full of delicious porridge and the right with golden ladle adorned with various kinds of jewels. The other two hands depic Abhaya and Vrata pose. She is depicted with wristlet and golden jewellery which rest on the chest. She is seated on a throne with a crest of moon adoring her head. In some depictions, Shiva is shown standing to her right with a begging bowl, begging her for alms. Shankara in Annapoorna Stotra described the deity always holding a scripture, akshamala and opener of doors of Moksha in her hands in place of vessel and ladle, indicating his prayer to Annapoorna being spiritual perfection rather than food.

Mantra

Oṃ Annapūrṇe sadāpūrṇe Śaṇkara prāṇa vallabhe jñāna vairāgya siddhyartham bhikṣām dehī ca pārvatī.
Māta me Pārvatī devī pitā devo Maheśvara bāndhavāḥ Śiva bhaktāsca svadeśo bhūvanatrayam.

Annapurna is the goddess of food and nourishment in Hinduism. Worship and offering of food is highly praised in Hinduism and therefore, the goddess Annapurna is regarded as a popular deity. She is an avatar (form) of Parvati, the wife of Shiva. and is eulogized in the Annada Mangal, a narrative poem in Bengali by Bharatchandra Ray. The Annapurna Sahasranam is dedicated to the goddess and praises her one thousand names while the Annapurna Shatanama Stotram is dedicated to her 108 names.



A few temples exist that are dedicated to her, the most prominent being the Annapurna Devi Mandir and the Kasi Viswanath Temple in Varanasi. Since Akshaya Tritiya is considered to be the birthdate of the goddess Annapurna, the day is believed to be very auspicious for buying gold jewellery