Video: The Legend of Annapurna, Hindu Goddess of Nourishment

How the Hindu myth of Annapurna, goddess of food, connects sustenance with spirituality.

Through vivid animation, this short video from TED-Ed brings to life the story of Annapurna, the Hindu goddess of food and nourishment. As the legend goes, the primordial deities Parvati, mother of the natural world, and her husband Shiva, who possessed the power of destruction and creation, brought sacred balance to the Universe through their union. However, a rift developed when Shiva began to belittle Parvati’s work of tending to humanity’s material wellbeing. So one day, much to the surprise of Shiva, Parvati vanished. After a period of darkness and famine, she reemerged in the form of Annapurna and distributed food to the starving people of the Earth, as well as to Shiva himself, who found that his wife’s absence had left him in deep need of sustenance. Today, Annapurna remains an important symbol within Hindu traditions, connecting food with spirituality.

Video by TED-Ed

Director: Roxane Campoy

Writers: Antara Raychaudhuri, Iseult Gillespie

Text: Aeon

Running time: 5 minutes

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