In modern

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

Shaiva Shaivism (; sa, शैवसम्प्रदायः, Śaivasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the Supreme Being. One of the largest Hindu denominations, it incorporates many sub-traditions rangin ...

tradition, Jyoti is sometimes considered to be the personification of the female principle, an embodied representation of the

vel Vel ( ta, வேல், lit=Vēl) is a divine javelin or spear associated with Murugan, the Hindu god of war. Significance According to Shaiva tradition, the goddess Parvati presented the Vel to her son Murugan, as an embodiment of her shakti, ...

Murugan Kartikeya ( sa, कार्त्तिकेय, Kārttikeya), also known as Skanda, Subrahmanya, Shanmukha (), and Murugan ( ta, முருகன்), is the Hindu god of war. He is the son of Parvati and Shiva, the brother of Ganesha ...

Legends

The goddess has two different myths based on her birth. In the first myth, she emerges from

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

's halo, and is a physical manifestation of her father's grace. In the second myth, she is born from a spark from goddess

Parvati Parvati ( sa, पार्वती, ), Uma ( sa, उमा, ) or Gauri ( sa, गौरी, ) is the Hindu goddess of power, energy, nourishment, harmony, love, beauty, devotion, and motherhood. She is a physical representation of Mahadevi i ...

's forehead, similar to how

Muruga Kartikeya ( sa, कार्त्तिकेय, Kārttikeya), also known as Skanda, Subrahmanya, Shanmukha (), and Murugan ( ta, முருகன்), is the Hindu god of war. He is the son of Parvati and Shiva, the brother of Ganesha ...

is born from six sparks from

's forehead. From her, the

devi Devī (; Sanskrit: देवी) is the Sanskrit word for 'goddess'; the masculine form is ''deva''. ''Devi'' and ''deva'' mean 'heavenly, divine, anything of excellence', and are also gender-specific terms for a deity in Hinduism. The conce ...

fashions a weapon that she presents to her son as a

. With this weapon,

destroys the asura Surapadman. It is believed that she is in a formless or ''arupa'' state in all of her brother Muruga's temples. She is also thought to be the flame that her father

Nataraja Nataraja () also known as Adalvallaan () is a depiction of the Hindu god Shiva as the divine cosmic dancer. His dance is called Tandava.''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (2015) The pose and artwork are described in many Hindu texts such as the ''T ...

(a form of Shiva) holds.

Worship

In Shodasam, a major devotional composition by the sage

Agastya Agastya ( kn, ಅಗಸ್ತ್ಯ, ta, அகத்தியர், sa, अगस्त्य, te, అగస్త్యుడు, ml, അഗസ്ത്യൻ, hi, अगस्त्य) was a revered Indian sage of Hinduism. In the I ...

, the sage discovers and describes the role of the mother Manonmani, her husband (

in the form Sadisiva) and their daughter Jyoti who are present in the Ajna cakra upon the forehead for each day of the waxing and waning of moon. The sage also recounts that how Jyoti was born of the Pranava pillar of ‘Om'. The goddess is called Saravanabhavai due to her association with her brother, and is worshipped in her Vel form in many

temples. In some parts of India, she is identified with the goddess Rayaki, who is associated with the Vedic Raka. In North India, she is identified as the goddess Jwalaimukhi.

References

Hindu goddesses Weapons in Hindu mythology {{India-reli-bio-stub