Umiya

Among the divine figures who animate Mahakavi Premanand's *Okhaharan*, Umiya — another name for Parvati, the consort of Shiva — occupies a quietly significant place. She embodies maternal grace and cosmic power, and her presence in the narrative reminds readers that the events surrounding Aniruddha and Usha unfold within a universe watched over by the great Shaiva deities as much as by the Vaishnava ones.

Premanand, writing in seventeenth-century Gujarat, drew on the rich Puranic tradition in which Umiya is both a tender mother-goddess and a formidable divine force. Her appearances in *Okhaharan* are woven into the fabric of the story through prayer, invocation, and the social world of Usha and Chitralekha, reflecting how deeply goddess devotion was embedded in everyday Gujarati religious life of the period. Through Umiya, Premanand subtly honours the Shaiva heritage even within a predominantly Krishnaite narrative, demonstrating the inclusive, syncretic spirit that makes his poetry so enduringly beloved.