Murugan, the Hindu God of war and victory, is a popular deity among Tamil Hindus, and is worshiped primarily

in areas with Tamil influences, especially South India, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Malaysia, Singapore and Reunion Island. His six most important shrines in India are the Arupadaiveedu temples, located in Tamil Nadu. In Sri Lanka, Hindus as well as Buddhists revere the sacred historical Nallur Kandaswamy temple in Jaffna and the sacred Buddhist and Hindu shrine of Katirkmam Temple (also in Sinhala "Katharagama Devalaya") dedicated to him, situated deep south in the country.[1] Ethnic Tamil in Penang and Kuala Lumpur, of Malaysia also pray to Lord Murugan during Thaipusam. In Karnataka he is popular as Subrahmanya and is often associated with snakes, famous shrine Kukke Subramanya is well known for Sarpa shanti rites. In Andhra Pradesh and Bengal as well as other parts of Tamil Nadu, he is popular by the names Subrahmanya and Kartikeya (meaning 'son of Krittika') respectively.[2] Murugan (Manifestation of beauty)is more popular in South India especially among the Tamil people compared to other peoples of India, and is famously referred to as Thamizh Kadavul (God of Tamils Like most Hindu deities, Murugan is known by many other names, including Senthil (meaning 'smart' or 'clever'), Saravaa, Arumugam, Sanmuga (from Sanskrit amukha), Shadanana (meaning 'one with six faces'), Kumra (meaning 'prince or child or young one'), Dhandapany (meaning God with a Club), Guhan or Guruhuha (meaning 'cave-dweller'), Skanda (meaning 'that which is spilled or oozed, namely seed' in Sanskrit),[3] Vla and Swaminatha Tolkappiyam, possibly the most ancient of the extant Sangam works, dated between the 3rd century BCE and 5th century CE glorified Murugan, " the red god seated on the blue peacock, who is ever young and resplendent," as " the favoured god of the Tamils."[6] The Sangam poetry divided space and Tamil land into five allegorical areas (tinai) and according to the Tirumurugarruppatai ( c. 400-450 AD) attributed to the great Sangam poet Nakkiirar, Murugan was the presiding deity the Kurinci region (hilly area). (Tirumurugaruppatai is a deeply devotional poem included in the ten idylls (Pattupattu) of the age of the third Sangam). The other Sangam era works in Tamil that refer to Murugan in detail include the Paripaatal, the Akananuru and the Purananuru.One poem in the Paripaatal describes the veneration of Murugan thus: According to the Tamil devotional work, Thiruppugazh, "Murugan never hesitates to come to the aid of a devotee when called upon in piety or distress". In another work Thirumurukkarrupatai, he is described as a god of eternal youth; His face shines a myriad rays light and removes the darkness from this world. The references to Murugan in Sanskrit literature can be traced back to the first millennium BCE. There are references to Subrahmanya in Kautilya's Arthashastra, in the works of Patanjali, in Kalidasa's epic poem the Kumarasambhavam and in the Sanskrit drama Mricchakatika. The Kushanas, who governed from what is today Peshawar, and the Yaudheyas, a republican clan in the Punjab, struck coins bearing the image of Skanda. The deity was venerated also by the Ikshvakus, an Andhra dynasty, and the Guptas.[8] The worship of Kumra was one of the six principal sects of Hinduism at the time of Adi Shankara. The Shanmata system propagated by him included this sect. In many Shiva and

Devi temples of Tamil Nadu, Subrahmaya is installed on the left of the main deity. Sati, the consort of Shiva immolated herself at the Daksha Yagna, sacrificed herself in yagna. Sati was reborn as Parvati the daughter of the mountain king Himavaan (the Himalayas). Shiva withdrew himself from the universe and engaged himself in yogic meditation in the Himalayas Shiva married Parvati. Their lovemaking continued for so long, gods despaired of ever seeing a son born of this union. (Kama-sutra was written as a description of the divine lovemaking) Impatient as ever, gods disturbed the lovemaking at the crucial point when Shiva ejaculated his seed. Instead of falling in Parvati's womb, sparks of the fiery seed of Shiva fell in Agni's waiting hands. Unable to bear the heat of the divine seed, Agni transported it to the river Ganges into the Saravana forest into a pond called the Saravana Poigai (located at mouths of river Ganges), where the sparks became six children. They were raised by the six Krittika or Kartika - the stars that make up the Pleiades, earning the name Karthikeya. Parvati combined these six babies into one with six faces, i.e. Shanmukha or Arumugan. Since he was born in the Saravana he was also called 'Saravanabhava'.[citation needed] Murugan became the supreme general of the demi-gods then escorted the devas and led the army of the devas to victory against the asuras. The six sites at which Karthikeya sojourned while leading his armies against Surapadman are Tiruttanikai, Swamimalai, Tiruvavinankudi (Palani), Pazhamudirsolai, Tirupparamkunram and Tiruchendur. All these sites have ancient temples glorified by the Tamil poems of Tirumurugaatruppadai of the Sangam period (c. the 3rd century AD).And six sites collectively came to be known as "Arupadai Veedu" (Lang:Tamil), it means the six battle camps of the Lord Template:Kumaran The first elaborate account of Karthikeya's origin occurs in the Mahabharata. In a complicated story, he is said to have been born from Agni and Svha, after the latter impersonated the six of the seven wives of the Saptarishi (Seven Sages). The actual wives then become the Pleiades. Karthikeya is said to have been born to destroy the Asura Mahisha.[9] (In later mythology, Mahisha became the adversary of Durga.) Indra attacks Karthikeya as he sees the latter as a threat, until Shiva intervenes and makes Karthikeya the commander-in-chief of the army of the Devas. He is also married to Devasena, Indra's daughter. The origin of this marriage lies probably in the punning of 'Deva-sena-pati'. It can mean either lord of Devasena or Lord of the army (sena) of Devas.[citation needed] The Ramayana version is closer to the stories told in the Puranas discussed below.

[edit] Vedas
The Atharva Veda describes Kumaran as 'Agnibhuh' or son of Agni, the fire god. The Satapatha Brahmana refers to him as the son of Rudra and the ninth form of Agni. The Taittiriya Aranyaka contains the Gayatri mantra for Shanmukha. The Chandogya Upanishad refers to Skanda as the "way that leads to wisdom". The Baudhayana Dharmasutra mentions Skanda as 'Mahasena' and 'Subrahmanya.' The Aranya Parva canto of the Mahabharata relates the legend of Kartikeya Skanda in considerable detail. The Skanda Purana is devoted to the narrative of Kartikeya.[8] The Upanishads also constantly make a reference to a Supreme Being called Guha, the indweller

Though slightly varying versions occur in the Puranas, they broadly follow the same pattern. By this period, the identification of Shiva/Rudra with Agni, that can be traced back to the Vedas and Brahmanas, had clearly made Kartikeya the son of Shiva.[citation needed] The Skanda Purana narrates that Shiva first wed Dakshayani (also named Sati),the first incarnation of adi shakthi the granddaughter of Brahma, and the daughter of Daksha. Daksha a vishnu devotee never liked Shiva, who, symbolizing destruction of evil, detachment, who lives a simple life . Daksha publicly insults Shiva in a Yagna ceremony, and Dakshayani immolates herself. The Yagna is destroyed although protected by all the other Gods and the rishis. Taraka believed that, because Shiva is an ascetic and his earlier marriage was conducted with great difficulty, his remarriage was out of the question, hence his boon of being killed by Shiva's son alone would give him invincibility.[citation needed] The Devas manage to get Shiva married to Parvati (who was Dakshayani, reborn), by making Manmatha (also known as Kama), the God of love awaken him from his penance, but Manmatha incurred the Lord's wrath indicated by the opening his third eye - "Netri Kann", and being destroyed and resurrected. Shiva hands over his effulgence of the third eye used to destroy Manmatha to Agni, as he alone is capable of handling it until it becomes the desired offspring. But even Agni, tortured its heat, hands it over to Ganga who in turn deposits it in a lake in a forest of reeds (sharavanam).Then Goddess Parvati,took the form of this water body as she alone is capable of taming the Tejas of Shiva,her consort. . The child is finally born in this forest (vana) with six faces-eesanam, sathpurusham, vamadevam, agoram, sathyojatham and adhomugam. He is first spotted and cared for by six women representing the Pleiades - Kritika in Sanskrit. He thus gets named Karthikeya. As a young lad, he destroys Taraka. He is also called Kumara (Tamil for "youth").[citation needed] Another Story [10] After their marriage, Lord Shiva and Parvati lived happily at Mt. Gandhamadana. They decided to have a son to kill taraksur and to rid the world of his atrocities. While they were enjoying an intimate moment, they combined their energy and created an urjha. At the instruction of Indra Agni Dev stole the combined energy. Parvati gets infuriated. She cursed Agni saying, "From this day thou shall be omnivorous and eat unclean things, shall cause an unbearable inflammation on your body." (Note: See this story for an alternate curse for why Agni became omnivorous.) She also cursed the other gods that their wives would never have the bliss of having a child Agni got unbearable inflammation on his body he deposited the urjha in the Ganges river. The holy river Ganga carried the energy and on its way it broke into six pieces an deposited in a secluded place, called the Sara Vana, which was covered with reeds. After some time, Lord Kartikeya (also called Skanda) manifested from those reeds. Since he was born in the Sara Vana, he is also known as Saravana. [Note: The Six Kritikas are the stars of the constellation pleiades. In other texts, Agni carries the six sparks that fell from the third eye of Shiva, not his vital fluid. The sparks are deposited in a pond in the Sara Vana, where a six babies are born on a lotus each. The Krittikas who came there, nursed the babies. When Parvati and Shiva came there, Parvati took all the babies in her arms and made them into one, albeit with six heads.] The Devas rejoiced at the birth of this child. Lord Shiva and Parvati went to the place

where the child was born. Parvati prayed to Shiva that only she should be the mother of Skanda and no one else. Shiva granted her this boon. As per a prior prophesy, the child Kartikeya was anointed as the command-in-chief of the Devas. It had been foretold that only he could kill a demon named Taraka who had been plaguing the Devas. However, that incident is part of another story