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{{Short description|Hindu goddess}}
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[[File:Aihole si05-1434.jpg|thumb|260x260px|Sculpture of Murugan wielding his vel, identified as Jyoti]]
In modern [[Tamils|Tamil]] [[Shaivism|Shaiva]] tradition, '''Jyoti''' is sometimes considered to be the personification of the female principle, an embodied representation of the [[Vel|vel]] of [[Kartikeya|Murugan]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Waghorne |first=Joanne Punzo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dHo8DwAAQBAJ&dq=goddess+jyoti+vel&pg=PA193 |title=Diaspora of the Gods: Modern Hindu Temples in an Urban Middle-Class World |date=2004-09-16 |publisher=Oxford University Press, USA |isbn=978-0-19-515663-8 |pages=190 |language=en}}</ref>

==Legends==
The goddess has two different myths based on her birth. In the first myth, she emerges from [[Shiva]]'s halo, and is a physical manifestation of her father's grace.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mid-day.com/articles/daughters-of-shiva/192003|title=Daughters of Shiva|date=9 December 2012|publisher=}}</ref>

In the second myth, she is born from a spark from goddess [[Parvati]]'s forehead, similar to how [[Muruga]] is born from six sparks from [[Shiva]]'s forehead. From her, the [[devi]] fashions a weapon that she presents to her son as a [[vel]]. With this weapon, [[Muruga]] destroys the asura Surapadman.<ref name="murugan.org">{{cite web|url=http://murugan.org/jyoti.htm|title=Skanda's Sister Jyoti|website=murugan.org}}</ref>

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]] (a form of Shiva) holds.<ref name="murugan.org"/>

==Worship==
In Shodasam, a major devotional composition by the sage [[Agastya]], the sage discovers and describes the role of the mother Manonmani, her husband ([[Shiva]] 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'.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/GlobalSanatanDharma/posts/240973912700177|title=Global Organization of Hindus|website=www.facebook.com}}</ref>

The goddess is called Saravanabhavai due to her association with her brother, and is worshipped in her Vel form in many [[Muruga]] 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==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Hindu goddesses]]
[[Category:Weapons in Hindu mythology]]

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Jyoti goddess - Revision history

Bot at 02:04, 21 October 2022