The mysterious red hued goddess

The characteristics of the real Parvati have been documented extensively in the Lalitasahasranamam.

Goddess in the red hued form
She is meditated upon as the red hued Goddess with a vermilion body, three eyed and sporting a crown of rubies with a crescent moon. She has a smiling face, splendid bust and is seated on a lotus with petal eyes. She is golden hued with a lotus flower in her hand. She holds a jewel cup brimming with mead in one hand, while the other twirls a lotus flower. She holds a noose depicting the power of love in one hand and the flashing ankusha of anger restraining the forces of evil in the other. She yields a sugarcane bow depicting the mind and 5 arrows that represent the tanmantras. The whole universe is bathed in her rosy splendor. Her forehead shines arched like the crescent moon and her eyebrows resemble archways leading to the abode of supreme beauty. her eyes move like fish in this stream of divine beauty flowing from her face. Her neck is adorned with the mangalsutra that the Lord Kameshwara fastened round her neck. She wears a garment of deep red round her hip which is adorned with a girdle having many jeweled bells. The beauty and smoothness of her thighs are known to Lord Kameshwara alone, as she is seated on his lap, the conqueror of all desire. She rests on a seat formed by five divinities and is inaccessible, she constitutes half of Lord Shiva's body, shining dark complexioned and she is full of divine fragrance.

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Subtle abstraction of the Goddess in sacred syllables of sound

The abstraction of the Goddess is defined as the power that is generated from the fire of pure consciousness. She represents the Panchadashakshari mantra, she is the form of the mula mantra. In her subtle form, she is invoked by a mesmerizing mesh of sacred syllables, stitched together into a garland of kutas[combination of letters]. The Kamaraja Kuta represents the region from her neck to her waist while the Shakti kuta represents the Goddess's form from below her waist. She is that energy that rises from the Brahma Granthi, through the Vishnu granthi crossing the Rudra granthi to reach the center of pure consciousness in the Sahasrara Chakra. She is the subtle force that destroys all anger, greed and doubt that rises within the human mind. She is the ever constant, unaffected by time, she is pure consciousness. She destoys the fear of change, the fear of death. She is the greatest tantra, the greatest mantra, the greatest yantra. She is the very form of the cosmic sound, Nada. She is that energy which constitutes the 50 sacred sound transforming into the gross reality of 50 great centers of worship. She is like the moonlight that gives joy to those who burn in the triple fires of misery - physical, mental and supernatural. She is like the swan that swims in the manasa lake in the mind of her devotees. She is the hamsa mantra that reverberates in every breath. She resides deep within the cave of our intelligence, she is the ruler of our prana, of our life force. She is the primal mystic sound that vibrates deep within us. She is pure sound energy, potent in every syllable of her mula mantra.

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The warrior Goddess who vanquishes all evil
The warrior Goddess is described most immaculately in the Lalitasahasranamam as the Goddess who takes position in the center of the rampart of fire constructed by jwalamalinika. She rejoices when Ganesha destroys the magical devices placed by the demon Bhandasura as obstacles to her victory. She creates the 10 incarnates of Vishnu out of her 10 finger nails, to slay the great demon in war. She burns down the armies of demons with the fire of the her missile Pashupata. She is like the axe that cuts through the jungle of samsara in which the jeeva is caught. She lives in a circle of fire, she is the power called maya and she is Mahakali, the divine mother who consumes everything as a part of time.  

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The Goddess who loves food offerings

She is the Goddess who protects sacred tradition. She is the female element of the kula path, the guardian who protects the sacred doctrine of the Kaulas. She enjoys the rhythmic dance of women, better known as Lasya. She rules the fifty great centers of power, divine places of worship. She loves offerings of payasam [milk foods], offerings of rice mixed with ghee. She adours offerings of rice cooked jaggery and offerings of honey. She is pleased with offerings of pulses with rice as well as saffron flavored rice

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The abstraction of Parvati remains a mystery, she appears to have celestial characteristics of bright red skin, she is the very expression of beauty, the essence of sound, a warrior Goddess who loves rice based offerings. She appears sensuous and terrific at the same time, a killer of evil and a child who indulges in milk food offerings and honey. She is the keeper of faith and a destroyer of evil and a yet she is as graceful a maiden in the arms of her consort - Lord Shiva.