Annapurna Devi: The Hindu Goddess of Food, Her Story, Mantra and Temple

Annapurna Devi (अन्नपूर्णा) is the Hindu goddess of food and nourishment, a form of Parvati, consort of Shiva. Her name means “full of food”. She holds a ladle and a vessel of rice, feeding all beings. Her most famous temple stands in Varanasi beside Kashi Vishwanath, where, in a well-loved story, she fed Shiva himself.

In many Hindu homes she is the quiet presence of the kitchen: the cook’s prayer before lighting the stove, the verse said before eating, and the reason no guest should leave hungry.

Annapurna at a glance

Name	Annapurna, Annapoorneshwari, Annada
Meaning	Anna (food, grain) + purna (full, complete)
Form of	Parvati / Devi
Consort	Shiva (as Vishwanath, Lord of Kashi)
Holds	A ladle (darvi) and a pot or bowl of food
Main temple	Annapurna Devi Mandir, Varanasi
Festival	Annapurna Jayanti, Margashirsha Purnima
Hymn	Annapurna Stotram, attributed to Adi Shankaracharya

The story: Shiva begs from Annapurna

The most popular story of Annapurna is told in many versions in devotional literature.

Shiva and Parvati were playing a game of dice, and Shiva lost everything — even his trident and serpent. Shiva, the great ascetic, declared that it did not matter: the world, its possessions and even food were maya, illusion. (See maya in Hinduism for what the term really means.)

Parvati, who as the Mother is the source of all material nourishment, decided to show what the world would be without her. She disappeared. Food vanished, the earth grew barren, and gods, humans and animals alike began to starve.

Then Shiva too felt hunger. Learning that there was one place where food was still being given — Kashi — he went there carrying a skull as a begging bowl. In Kashi, Parvati had appeared as Annapurna, seated on a throne, serving food to all who came. She filled Shiva’s bowl with her own hands. Shiva acknowledged that the body and its nourishment are not to be despised, for they are the means to spiritual life.

Annapurna then promised that no one in Kashi would ever go hungry. That is why the city has long been famous for its annakshetras, free kitchens for pilgrims and sadhus. For more stories of Shiva, see stories of Lord Shiva.

Iconography

Annapurna is usually shown seated or standing, richly dressed and adorned, with:

• a ladle in her right hand,
• a bowl or pot of rice or sweet porridge in her left,
• sometimes Shiva standing before her with his begging bowl.

In some images she has four arms and holds a noose and goad as well. She is closely linked with Lakshmi in her role as giver of plenty, and with the earth’s fertility.

Annapurna Temple, Varanasi

The Annapurna Devi Mandir stands in the lanes near the Kashi Vishwanath temple. The present building is generally dated to the first half of the 18th century and credited to the Maratha Peshwa Bajirao I. The temple is especially crowded at Diwali time, when an image of the goddess in gold is displayed for a few days, and devotees receive coins and rice as her prasad.

In 2021 an 18th-century stone idol of Annapurna, stolen from a Varanasi riverside shrine around 1913 and later held at the University of Regina in Canada, was returned to India and installed in the Kashi Vishwanath Dham complex.

Annapurna, Lakshmi and Durga

Annapurna is one of many forms of the one Devi. As Parvati she is Shiva’s consort; as the giver of grain and plenty she overlaps with Lakshmi, who is worshipped for prosperity at Diwali Lakshmi puja; and as the Mother who protects all beings she is close to Durga, whose many forms are described in stories of goddess Durga. In Kashi, Annapurna is honoured as the queen of the city, the one who keeps Vishwanath’s devotees fed. Some lists of the goddess’s forms in the Durga Chalisa also name her.

Annapurna is also worshipped at Horanadu in Karnataka (Sri Annapoorneshwari Temple) and in many South Indian homes as Annapoorneshwari.

Annapurna Stotram

The Annapurna Stotram, attributed to Adi Shankaracharya, is the best-known hymn to her. Each verse ends with the refrain:

Bhikṣāṁ dehi kṛpāvalambanakarī mātā’nnapūrṇeśvarī

“O Mother Annapurneshwari, who supports us with compassion, give me alms.”

Its famous closing verse is often recited alone, especially before meals:

Annapūrṇe sadāpūrṇe śaṅkaraprāṇavallabhe | Jñānavairāgyasiddhyarthaṁ bhikṣāṁ dehi ca pārvati ||

“O Annapurna, ever full, beloved of Shankara, O Parvati, give me alms — that I may attain knowledge and detachment.”

The request is striking: the devotee asks the goddess of food not for more food but for wisdom and freedom. For mantra practice generally, see how to start a daily mantra practice.

Annapurna mantra

A commonly recited mantra is:

Om Hrīṁ Śrīṁ Klīṁ Namo Bhagavati Māheśvari Annapūrṇe Svāhā

It is chanted 11 or 108 times, often in the morning or before cooking. Mantra versions vary between lineages; follow your family or teacher’s form if you have one.

Annapurna Jayanti and daily worship

Annapurna Jayanti falls on Margashirsha Purnima, usually in December. Devotees clean the kitchen, worship the stove and grain store, cook fresh food as an offering and feed others — the most fitting worship of a goddess who feeds.

Simple ways to honour Annapurna every day:

1. Offer the first portion. Before eating, set aside a little food for the deity, a cow or a bird. See what is prasad.
2. Say a verse before meals, such as “Annapurne sadapurne…”.
3. Don’t waste food. In many homes, wasting food is felt as disrespect to Annapurna.
4. Feed someone. Anna-daan, the gift of food, is praised as one of the highest forms of charity.

The Bhagavad Gita (3.13) says that those who eat after offering are freed from fault, while those who cook only for themselves “eat sin”. Annapurna gives that teaching a face.