The Marriage of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati

The Marriage of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati

The king of the Himalayas, Himavantha and his wife, Menadevi o were devotees f Lord Shiva. They wanted a daughter who would grow up to be the wife of Lord Shiva. So Menadevi performed tapasya to please Goddess Gauridevi, wife of Lord Shiva. She sat and prayed for days on end, without any food and water. Pleased, Goddess Gauridevi promised to be born as  Menadevi's daughter.
Goddess Sati jumped into fire and died. She was then reborn as Menadevi's daughter and was named Parvati. The first word that she uttered was 'Lord Shiva.' She grew up to be a beautiful woman. Meanwhile, Lord Shiva who was very sad at the death of his wife had started a long meditation. King Himavantha was worried that Lord Shiva would not accept Parvati as his wife as he was in deep meditation and requested Sage Narada to solve his problem. Sage Narada told him that Parvati could win Lord Shiva over through prayers. So King Himavantha sent Parvati to the place where Lord Shiva was meditating. Day and night Parvati worshipped and served Lord Shiva.
Though pleased with her devotion, Lord Shiva decided to test her. He designed himself as a young Brahmin and told Parvati that would it be good for her to marry Lord Shiva who lived like a beggar and had nothing. Parvati got very angry when she heard these words about Lord Shiva. She told him that she would marry no one but Lord Shiva. Pleased with her answer Lord Shiva came back to his real form and agreed to marry Parvati. Himavantha performed the wedding with great splendour.