Goddess Girija is one among the numerous names of Goddess
Parvati. She is known as Girija as she is the daughter of the king of Mountains
Himavan, who is also known as Himavat or Giri or Parvata Raja.
Legend has it that Giri, the king of the mountains, once
performed intense austerities to fulfill the desire that Mother Goddess should
be born as his daughter.
He performed the tapas for several years and one day went to
take bath in the Padmateertha (Lake) in the Himalayas .
There he saw a very huge lotus with thousands of petals.
Middle of the lotus was a new born who was happily playing.
King Giri went into the lake and took up the new born.
It was a girl child with a divine aura.
Giri showed the child to his wife Mena Devi who was ecstatic.
They adopted the child and named the baby Parvati.
Giri means hill or mountain and the daughter of King Giri
came to be known as Girija.