It is said the Parvati came into being to lure Lord Shiva into marriage and the wider circle of life outside of this creator-destroyer god asceticism. (In Hindu mythology it is Shiva who is said to ignite the dissolution the pralaya between cycles. Parvati (which means mountain dweller) is a stunningly beautiful woman with a great deep love for her children and a passion and deep devotion for the ascetic Lord Shiva. But Shiva is not be won simply by beauty or the stirrings of passion. So Parvati performs deep austerities. So strong are her meditations, indeed of such intensity are the inner heat of her tapas, that the gods beg Shiva to take notice and as he does as she turns from black to pure shining gold. The couple is subsequently married with great fanfare, with the gods in attendance, after which they retire to Mount Kailash where for many cycles they engage in a great, passionate cosmic lovemaking that shakes the very center of the Universe. When the children are finally born, they are born blessed with the love of the Divine Mother in the form of the sumptuous Parvati.