Birth Varying accounts of Bhumi's birth are narrated in Hindu scriptures. The southern recension of the epic
Mahabharata mentions Bhumi as the daughter of the creator god
Brahma. The
Devi Bhagavata Purana states her to be born of out the remains of two
rakshasas,
Madhu and Kaitabha.
Rescue by Varaha Bhumi is the consort of the anthropomorphic
Varaha, an
avatar of the preserver god
Vishnu. According to the
Puranas, during the
Satya Yuga (first eon), the demon
Hiranyaksha kidnapped Bhumi and hid her in the primordial waters. Upon the request of the gods, Vishnu took the
avatar (incarnation) of Varaha to rescue her. Varaha slew the demon and retrieved the Earth from the depths of the ocean, lifting it on his tusks. He restored Bhumi to her rightful place in the universe, and proceeded to marry her.
Children , her sons, and the sages watch in astonishment, painting by
Raja Ravi Varma Narakasura was the first born of Bhumi. There are two stories about Narakasura's birth. In the first one, he was the first son of Bhumi and Varaha. He was born when Bhumi requested Varaha for a son. Narakasura later performed a penance to receive a boon that only his mother would be able to kill him. In the second one, Narakasura's father was Hiranyaksha and was born when Hiranyaksha's horns touched Bhumi. Mangala, according to Vaishnava tradition, was the son of Varaha and Bhumi.
Sita, the wife of
Rama, emerged from the earth, and subsequently adopted by the King of Mithila,
Janaka. The tale goes that there was once a drought in
Mithila, the hometown of Sita. Janaka, the future father of Sita, was ploughing the ground. Under his plough, he found a baby girl (Sita). Rain showered upon the earth and Janaka and his wife decided to adopt the girl. As Sita was born from the earth, she was also known as Bhumija.
Saving Prahlada Prahlada, the son of
Hiranyakashipu, was a devotee of Vishnu. The father did not like the son's devotion to Vishnu. He punished Prahlada in a number of ways. Once, he threw down Prahlada from the top of a high building. At that moment, Bhumi appeared there and received him in her arms.
The milking of the earth One of the most well-recounted legends of Bhumi is her episode with the emperor of the world,
Prithu. When Prithu hears that his people are starving because the earth had withdrawn most of her vegetation, he furiously chases her in her form of a cow. She submits, allowing herself to be milked so that living beings could be nourished once more. Attributes such as the courage, valour, knowledge, and the bodily health of the
Brahmin sages are stated to have been milked from the earth, and the virtues and the truths that characterise animals may be attributed to her as well:
Satyabhama avatar The scriptures narrate how Bhumi took incarnation as a human to slay her son, Narakasura. According to the legend, after receiving his desired boon, Narakasura grew arrogant and drunk with his power. He started capturing women and forcefully made them his wives. He captured nearly 16,000 women. He wrested control of heaven from
Indra and no deity was able to defeat him because of his boon. Narakasura even took the earrings of Indra's mother,
Aditi, and gave them to his mother, Bhumi. Bhumi was requested by the devas to slay her son. She manifested herself upon the earth as Satyabhama, the daughter of
Satrajit. Satyabhama married
Krishna, and the couple waged war on Narakasura. She finally beheaded the latter with her husband's
Sudarshana Chakra, thus fulfilling the prophecy that the asura could only be killed by his mother.
Andal avatar Andal, the only female Alvar saint of
South India, is considered an avatar of Bhumi Devi. She is believed to be active in the 8th-century CE. Andal was raised by
Periyalvar in
Srivilliputhur, where she grew up as an ardent devotee of
Krishna. According to literary and religious tradition,
Periyalvar was an ardent devotee of
Vishnu and he used to string
garlands to Vishnu every day. He was childless and one day, he found a girl under a
Tulasi plant in the
garden inside
Sri Andal Rangamannar Temple, Srivilliputhur. This child was believed to be a manifestation of Bhu Devi herself. He named the child as Gothai, who grew up as a devotee of
Krishna. She is believed to have worn the garland before dedicating it to the presiding deity of the temple. The girl Kothai was thus named Andal and was referred to as "Chudikodutha Sudarkodi", meaning the lady who wore and gave her garland to Vishnu. Periyalvar took Andal to the
Ranganathaswamy Temple in
Srirangam where she was reunited with Vishnu as his bride. Andal was brought up by Periyalvar in an atmosphere of love and devotion. As she grew into a beautiful maiden, her fervor for God grew to the extent that she decided to marry only God himself. It was at Srirangam where Vishnu as
Ranganatha married Bhu Devi as Andal. Andal is credited with two great
Tamil works,
Tiruppavai and
Nachiyar Tirumoli, which are still recited by devotees during the winter festival season of Margali. ==Festival==