by Lord kartikeya (murugan): The other son of Shiva
Lord kartikeya (murugan) : We all know so much about Lord Shiva and his son Lord Ganesha. But, we have not heard many stories about the other son of Shiva, Kartikeya. If Ganesh is the symbol of knowledge, Kartikeya is the scientist among the gods.
Names
Kartikeya has 31 names including Guha, Subramanya, Velan, Murugan, Devasenapati, Aiyyappa and Kumara.
Vehicle
Murugan rides a peacock, who is the killer of snakes.
Birth
Murugan was born to Shiva and Sati, Shiva’s first wife. He is believed to be an eternal bachelor, although some scriptures say that he married twice, once with Valli and next time with Devasena.
Life
Kartikeya was once sent to battle with Taraka, the demon. He was accompanied by the Devas. kartikey killed Taraka after seven fights across different regions in India. After winning over Taraka, kartikey became the General of the Gods. He led the Gods in winning many battles on the demons. Thus, he got the name War God and General of Gods.
In ancient times, kartikey was regarded as the God of Thieves. Puranas claim that he had dug through the Krauncha Mountain for killing Taraka and his brothers. He also helped his father Shiva to fight the newborn Ganesha.
In another story, He was born from Agni and Svaha. He was born to destroy the buffalo demon Mahishasura.
Once, Indra, the King of GODS, was threatened by the power of kartikey and attacks him. Shiva intervened and gave his son the post of commander-in-chief of the army of gods. Later Indra married his daughter Devasena to him. Thus, he got the name Devasenapati.
There is a story that once Ganesha won a contest against him and got the divine fruit of knowledge from Maharshi Narada. Both were told to walk across the earth thrice. While he sped to rotate around the earth, Ganesha rotated around his parents Shiva and Mata Parvati thrice. Thus, he won the contest.
Appearance
He is a symbol of perfection. He is masculine and ferocious. He is also compared to fire because of his fierce nature. He has a spear in one hand called the Sakti, which symbolizes the destruction of evil and his other hand is blessing his devotees. He is also depicted sometimes as carrying sword, spike, sceptre, discus and bow. Some times Kartikay has six heads representing the six Siddhis granted to the yogis.
Temple
Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia has the tallest statue of kartikey at 42.7 metres high. In Subramanya, Karnataka, you can find the famous kartikay temple that is visited by millions of devotees every year. Swamimalai Murugan Temple in Kubakonam, Thiruthani Murugan Temple, Palani Murugan Temple, Mayilam, Sikkal, Kandakottam, Thiruporur and Pavalamalai temples are some of the other famous temples of Lord kartikey.
Not just in India, where the Hindus are in the majority, he has devotees across the world including countries like Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Switzerland and the US. Kartikay and is admired as the Little God just like Lord Krishna because of the stories surrounding his brave childhood.
