by NALEENA

Created on: December 31, 2007

While most of us have the image of a sleek Ms. Thurman brandishing a sword in tight yellow track pants, as soon as we hear the name UMA; its origin and history are something of a delight. UMA (pronounced as oo-mah) is one of the oldest words first ever used as a name.

There are multiple meanings for the name Uma in Hindi (the language used widely in Indian peninsula). It means light' and sometimes mother' and sometimes flax or turmeric'. Each as vividly different from the other as can possibly be.

The easiest one to explain is "mother". U means Lord Siva (A great God of the Hindus) and ma' is the Hindi word for mother. However in no way Uma was simply, as it seems from the above, mother of Siva. No. In fact, she was his wife! So why, in God's name, pun intended, does Uma mean mother? We'll come to that in a while, as of now let's suffice by understanding that most of the connotations and meanings of the word Uma have to do with Lord Siva, at least as far as Hindu Mythology and the origin of the word goes. As Uma was also designated the Goddess of Light, thus Uma sufficiently came to mean Light.
Now, Uma means flax or turmeric as well that, is just the literal translation of the word in Sanskrit. Most historical references indicate, this meaning came into existence much later, not till the 10th Century, which is almost like something happening yesterday if you take the Hindu Civilization and especially birth of Hindu Mythology in consideration. However it has a link to the story of Lord Siva as well. Read on!

Since we have already tackled origin above, I will go directly into history. Lord Siva, the Great Hindu God, was actually an ascetic. He was a fearsome loner, mighty & powerful, and lived and ruled over the Himalayas. Dreaded by all, he was also known to have a kindly heart. But this was not so always. He once fell in love too. No wrong guess, not with Uma but with a woman called Sati. History books and references actually indicate Siva to be a Dravidian King and Sati to be an Aryan princess. Sati's father was against the marriage (origin of the inter-caste divide) and her father once publicly humiliated Siva by not calling him for a prestigious Yagna (Holy Rites). So humiliated was Sati that she jumped into the pyre and committed suicide.
Siva came and collected her ashes and draped his hair and his forehead with this ash of his beloved and retired to the Himalayas to become an ascetic and loner (as previously indicated) in grief.
Sati meanwhile was re-born

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