Bhudevi

Bhudevi is the goddess Earth, the nourishing mother of all beings and one of the two consorts of Vishnu, beside Sridevi. She is shown as a gentle woman holding a lotus, often beside the boar form of Vishnu who lifted her from the waters. In Odisha she is a living presence in the Jagannath tradition, where Bhudevi is honoured beside Sridevi at Puri. Her great festival is Raja Parba, held for three days in mid June at the start of the monsoon, when the Earth is held to rest and ploughing stops.

Prithvi, the Earth, is praised in the Atharvaveda, in the hymn called the Bhumi Sukta, as the mother of whom people are the children. In the Puranas she becomes Bhudevi, the consort of Vishnu. According to the Vishnu Purana and the Bhagavata Purana, the demon Hiranyaksha dragged the Earth to the...