Himavan- Hindu GodDeity"King of the Mountains"
Also known as: Himavat, Himalaya, हिमवान्, and Himavān
Titles & Epithets
Domains
Description
Lord of the highest peaks on earth, whose veins run with gold and whose slopes shelter sages. When his daughter Parvati starved herself on his own mountainsides to win Shiva's heart, Himavan could not stop her, and he hosted the wedding procession that followed: Shiva riding a bull, attended by ghosts, ghouls, and ganas.
Mythology & Lore
King of the Mountains
Himavan is the personified lord of the Himalaya. He is married to Mena, a daughter of Mount Meru, and together they rule over a kingdom of forests, glaciers, and rivers fed by eternal snow. Among his daughters, the most prominent are Parvati, who became the consort of Shiva, and Ganga, the river goddess whom he released to descend from heaven to earth.
Father of Parvati
Himavan's central role in mythology comes through his daughter Parvati. When she was born as the reincarnation of Sati, Shiva's first wife, Himavan and Mena raised her with care. As a young woman, Parvati resolved to win Shiva through tapas. Himavan was reluctant to see his daughter undertake severe austerities, fearing for her wellbeing, but her determination was unshakable. She withdrew to the mountains, gave up food and water, and sat among five fires in the heat of summer and in freezing snow without shelter. Kalidasa's Kumarasambhava describes her penances thinning her body to nearly nothing.
When Shiva finally accepted Parvati, Himavan hosted the wedding at his mountain abode. The procession that arrived was unlike any father-in-law could have imagined: Shiva riding his bull Nandi, smeared in ash, wearing serpents and animal skins, attended by ganas, ghosts, ghouls, and spirits. Mena fainted at the sight. But Himavan welcomed them with all the grandeur his kingdom could provide, and the marriage was performed with Vedic rites on the slopes where Parvati had starved herself into a goddess.