Murugan (Kartikeya)
Who Murugan is, the son of Shiva known as Kartikeya and Skanda, his six faces, peacock and spear, his importance to Tamil Hindus and the festivals of Thaipusam and Skanda Shashti.
Murugan is a Hindu god of war, victory, youth and wisdom, and the son of Shiva and Parvati. Across India he is known as Kartikeya or Skanda, but he is most fervently worshipped by Tamil Hindus, for whom he is a deeply loved, often principal, deity. Wherever Tamil communities have settled, from Sri Lanka and Malaysia to Mauritius and London, temples to Murugan have followed.
His Tamil name, Murugan, is often explained as “the beautiful one” or “the youthful one”. Other names include Subrahmanya, Shanmukha (“six-faced”), Kumara (“the youth”) and Velan (“bearer of the spear”).
Birth
Murugan's birth is told in the Puranas and in Kalidasa's poem Kumarasambhava. A demon called Taraka had won a boon that he could only be killed by a son of Shiva. Since Shiva was absorbed in meditation after the death of his wife Sati, the gods despaired, until Parvati won Shiva's love.
Accounts of the birth vary. In a common version, sparks from Shiva's third eye were carried by the fire god Agni and the river Ganga to a lake of reeds, where they became six babies. They were nursed by the six Krittikas, the stars of the Pleiades, which is why he is called Kartikeya. Parvati embraced the six children, and they became one boy with six faces. He grew up to lead the army of the gods and destroy the demons.
How Murugan is depicted
- Youthful appearance: he is always shown as a handsome young man.
- Six faces (in some images), able to see in all directions.
- The vel, a divine spear given to him by his mother Parvati, symbolising wisdom that pierces ignorance. The vel is itself an object of worship.
- The peacock, his vehicle, often shown holding a snake in its claws: the conquest of ego and desire.
- The rooster, on his banner.
In Tamil tradition, Murugan has two wives: Devasena (Deivanai), daughter of the god Indra, and Valli, a girl from a hill tribe, whom he wooed in a famous love story.
Murugan and the Tamils
Murugan has been worshipped in the Tamil lands for around two thousand years. Early Tamil literature celebrates a hill god called Murugan, who later merged with the Sanskrit Skanda. He is often called Tamil Kadavul, “the god of the Tamils”. Six great shrines, the Arupadai Veedu (“six battle camps”), are major places of pilgrimage in Tamil Nadu, among them Palani, Tiruchendur and Swamimalai. The Kataragama shrine in Sri Lanka is sacred to Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims alike.
Festivals
Thaipusam
Thaipusam, held in the Tamil month of Thai (January–February), commemorates the day Parvati gave Murugan the vel. Devotees fulfil vows by carrying a kavadi, a decorated frame or pot of milk, on a pilgrimage, and some pierce their skin, tongue or cheeks with small spears. The festival is especially famous at the Batu Caves near Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, which draws over a million people.
Skanda Shashti
Skanda Shashti, in October–November, celebrates Murugan's victory over the demon Surapadman. The battle is re-enacted at temples such as Tiruchendur, and many devotees fast for six days.
Murugan in Britain
Sri Lankan Tamil and Indian Tamil communities have established Murugan temples across the UK, including the Highgatehill Murugan Temple in north London, and Murugan is honoured at the multi-faith Skanda Vale community in Carmarthenshire, Wales.
Sources and further reading
- Fred W. Clothey, The Many Faces of Murukan: The History and Meaning of a South Indian God (Mouton, 1978).
- Kamil Zvelebil, Tamil Traditions on Subrahmanya-Murugan (Institute of Asian Studies, 1991).