Parnashavari (

IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that emerged during ...

: Parṇaśabarī, sa, पर्णशबरी), also spelt as Paranasavari (Paranasabari), is a

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

deity adopted as

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

deity of diseases, worship of which is believed to offer effective protection against out-breaks of epidemics. Parnasabari is also depicted in some images of the Pala period found in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

, as a main goddess and escorted by Hindu deities

Jvarasura Jvara (), also called Jvarasura, is the personification of fever in Hinduism, Hindu tradition. He is the consort, and sometimes the attendant, of the pox-goddess, Shitala. Hinduism When Shiva was not invited to Daksha yajna, Daksha's yajna, his ...

and

Shitala Sheetala (, IAST: ) , also spelled as Shitala and Seetla, is a Hindu goddess venerated primarily in North India. She is regarded to be an incarnation of the goddess Parvati. She is believed to cure poxes, sores, ghouls, pustules, and diseases, an ...

. Both of these escorts are disease related Hindu deities. In India, the

Kurkihar hoard The Kurkihar hoard is a set of 226 bronzes, mostly Buddhist, dating to between the 9th and 12th centuries CE, which were found in Kurkihar near Gaya in the Indian state of Bihar. The village of Kurkihar is situated about 5 km. north-east o ...

contains seven bronze images of Parnasabari belonging to 10th- 12th century AD. In Buddhism, Parnasabari is depicted as an attendant of the Buddhist deity of same name, Tara. Some say that the term Parnasabari is an attempt to connect the deity with Vindya region, as Sabaras held a stronghold over the region.

References

{{Authority control Buddhist goddesses Tibetan Buddhist deities Hindu goddesses Forms of Parvati Avalokiteśvara Health goddesses Plague gods