Annapurna or Annapoorna (Devanagri: अन्नपूर्णा, from Sanskrit meaning the giver of food and nourishment) is the Hindu goddessof nourishment. Anna means "food" or "grains". Purna means "full, complete and perfect". She is an avatar (form) of Parvati, the wife of Shiva.
Annapurna is the Goddess of the city of Kashi (now known as Varanasi, U.P., India). Kasi is also known as the City of Light.
Goddess Parvati was told by her consort Shiva that the world is an illusion and that food is a part of this illusion called māyā. The Divine Mother who is worshiped as the manifestation of all material things, including food, became angry. To demonstrate the importance of her manifestation of all that is material, she disappeared from the world. Her disappearance brought time to a standstill and the earth became barren. There was no food to be found anywhere, and all the beings suffered from the pangs of hunger.
Seeing all the suffering, Mother Parvati was filled with compassion and reappeared in Kasi and set up a kitchen. Hearing about her return, Shiva ran to her and presented his bowl in alms, saying, "Now I realise that the material world, like the spirit, cannot be dismissed as an illusion." Parvati smiled and fed Shiva with her own hands.
Since then Parvati is worshiped as Annapurna, the Goddess of Nourishment.
