Murugan- The God of War

More popular in Southern India, this God of War is the patron deity of Tamil Nadu.  Known as Senthil, Saravana, Karttikeya, Arumugum, Shanmugam, Kumara, Guha, Skanda, Subramanya, Vela, Swaminatha, Murugan is the child god, son of Shiva and Paravati.

Gloried as the red god seated on the blue peacock, who is ever young and resplendent, there are numerous theories on the birth of the God of War. The Tamil Sangam Literature mentions Murugu, as a nature spirit worshipped with animal sacrifices and associated with a priest known as Velan, a name later used to refer to the deity himself.

The worship of  Murugu often occurred in the woods or in an open field, with no particular associated structure. The rituals included the Veriyaattu, a form of ritual-trance-dancing, which is still a common part of Murugan worship in parts of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Malaysia.

Murugu was believed to hold power over the chaotic and could be appeased by sacrifices and Veriyaattu to bring order and prosperity.

There are numerous other references to Murugan; Kautilya’s Arthashastra, Kalidasa’s epic poem Kumarasambhava. The Kushanas, who governed Peshawar, and Yaudheyas, a republican clan in Punjab, struck coins bearing image of Skanda.

The deity was venerated also by the Ikshvakus and the Guptas. The worship of Kumara was one of the six principal sects of Hinduism at the time of Adi Shankara. In many Shiva and Devi temples of Tamil Nadu, Subramanya is installed on the left of the main deity.

Accounts of Murugan’s birth are rather elaborate and complicated. In the Mahabharata, he is said to have beeb born from Agni and Svaha. It’s stated that Indra attacked Kartikkeya as he saw 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. The Atharva Veda, describes him as Agnibhuh or the son of Agni, the fire god.

Though slightly varying  versions occur in the Puranas, they broadly follow the same pattern. There is an identification made between Shiva/Rudra with Agni, thus clearly making Muruga the son of Shiva.

The Skanda Purana narrates that Shiva first wed Dakshayani  (also named Sati), the granddaughter of Brahma, and the daughter of Daksha. Daksha never liked Shiva, who, symbolizing destruction and detachment, begs for food, dances in a graveyard smeared with ashes, and has no possessions, not even good clothes for himself.

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. Tarakasura  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.

The Devas manage to get Shiva married to Parvati  (who was Dakshayani, reborn), by making Kama, the God of love awaken him from his penance, but Kama 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 Kama to Agni, as he alone is capable of handling it until it becomes the desired offspring. But even Agni, tortured by its heat, hands it over to Ganga  who in turn deposits it in a lake in a forest of reeds (shara). 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 (Sanskrit for “youth”)

Murugan became the supreme general of the demi-gods then escorted the devas and led the army of the devas to victory against the demons. 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 (circa the 3rd century AD).And these six sites collectively came to be known as “Arupadai Veedu” (Lang:Tamil), it means the six battle camps of the Lord.

Given that legends related to Murugan are recounted separately in several Hindu epics, some differences between the various versions are observed. Some Sanskrit epics and puranas indicate that he was the elder son of Shiva.

This is suggested by the legend connected to his birth; the wedding of Shiva and Parvati being necessary for the birth of a child who would vanquish the demon Taraka. Also, Kartikeya is seen helping Shiva fight the newborn Ganesha, Shiva’s other son.

Kartikeya symbols are based on the weapons – Vel, the Divine Spear or Lance that He carries and his mount the peacock. He is sometimes depicted with many weapons including: a sword, a javelin, a mace, a discus and a bow although more usually he is depicted wielding a sakti or spear. This symbolizes His purification of human ills. His javelin is used to symbolize his far reaching protection, his discus symbolizes his knowledge of the truth, his mace represents his strength and his bow shows his ability to defeat all ills. His peacock mount symbolizes his destruction of the ego.

His six heads represent the six siddhis bestowed upon yogis over the course of their spiritual development. This corresponds to his role as the bestower of siddhis.