Post No. 15,050
Date uploaded in London – 3 October 2025
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Pictures are taken from various sources for spreading knowledge.
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tamilandvedas.com, swamiindology.blogspot.com
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Hinduism through 500 Pictures in Tamil and English – படங்கள் மூலம் இந்து மதம் கற்போம்-2 (Post.15,050)
Before moving to Skanda/Muruga, I wanted to add few more points about Lord Ganesh
Ganesh with his mount Rat
Sometimes Ganesa is said to have two wives, even though he is a bachelor/Brahmachari
The two wives are not women but symbols of Siddhi/Success and Buddhi /Wisdom.
Like Goddess Shakti and Lord Shiva, Ganesh also has three eyes. Third Eye means Wisdom.
Vinayaka means one who has none above him. That means he is the Head.
Every Hindu God has weapons. This is to control evil forces or kill evil tendencies in us.
There are a few interesting stories.
Why does he have elephant face?
Once he was asked to guard the entrance of the building where his mother was taking a bath. When shiva came, Ganesa stopped him following Mother’s instruction. Enraged Siva cut off his head in anger. When Parvati felt sad, he found the nearest animal elephant and cut its head and fixed it on Ganesa. There is something more to this incident. His elephant trunk reminds Hindus their great symbol Aum. Another name for Om or Aum is Pranava. Great Saints called Ganesa- Pranava swarupa.
3.Why does he have Four Hands?
God is above all of us. We have only two hands. But with his four Helping Hands, he is quick to render help. There is an interesting story in Tamil books. When three people wanted to see Lord shiva in his abode, house in Kailash in the Himalayas, an old lady, great poet Avvaiyar can’t walk 3000 miles from Tamil Nadu. Ganesa with his trunk lifted her and she reached Kailash before her friends reached. So gods’ many hands help us quickly.
Ganapati in Dancing pose- Narthana Ganapati
Another interesting story about Ganesa is mango fruit story. Hindus have an Inter Galactic Traveller named Narada. He goes from one galaxy to another at the speed of thought, faster than light. He came to Kailash with one mango fruit and gave it to Lord shiva. When he was about to cut it into two and give them to Ganesa and Murugan, Narada said,
“Stop, stop, please. It should not be cut, because it’s a divine fruit.
Then Siva told his boys that whoever goes round the world and comes back first will get it. Murugan flew in his Vahana, vehicle peacock. But clever Ganesa went round their father and mother and fell at their feet saying, ‘You Are the World’. Both felt happy and gave him the whole mango. Murugan came later and felt that he was cheated. He went to Palani hills and stood there. Then the whole world went and pacified him with Panchamrutam, a special fruit salad. Here is a message to all of us- Father and Mother are greater than the world!
One more story ….. once Lord Shiva went in a hurry without saluting Ganesa. His chariot wheel had broken down, and he got stuck. Later he realised he didn’t say ‘Bye’ to his son. He went back and praised him, and he was successful in his task. This was told by a great saint called Arunagirinathar in his book Tiruppugaz. Here is a message to all of us. We must always worship God before starting anything.
****
Now let us look at Lord Skanda/ Murugan
Dandaayutha Paani appaerance in Palani, Taml Nadu (Danda= stick; Paani=Hand)
Skanda or Kumara is represented with Six Faces – shadaanana in Sanskrit Aarumugam in Tamil—and as riding on a peacock. Because he was brought up by six mothers, the Krittikas- Pleiades stars- he is known as Shanmaatura and Kaartikeya. His story is narrated in Skandapurana – available in Tamil and Sanskrit. He killed demon Taaraka and rent asunder Krauncha mountain.
He is associated with snake and Sashti- sixth day- is sacred to him. He married Indra’s daughter Devasena and Tamil forest maid Valli. About 1800 years ago Sudraka in his Sanskrit drama Mrichchakatikaa shows a thief worshipping Skanda before robbing a house holder.
In tTamil Nadu six shrines are his main shrines in addition to scores of places, where he resides at the top of hills. In Tamil literature he is the god of Kurinchi region, hilly landscape. In Karnataka Kukke Subrahmanya is a famous Skanda shrine.
Skanda is called Murugan in Tamil ; his other popular names are Subrahmanya, Kartikeya, Shanmukha, Saravanabhava,Guha etc.
He is called Tamil God because he taught Tamil to the great sage Agastya who was sent by Lord Shiva from north. Arunagirinathar who composed 1300++verses called Tiruppugaz repeatedly praised him as Tamil god 500 years ago.
Lord Skanda / Murugan killed asuras/ demons Suurapadman in the south and Taarakaasura in the north.
Sangam age poets praised him sky-high in two books Tirumurugatruppadai and Paripatal.
In Sanskrit, Kalidasa composed Kumaarasambhava about the birth of Kumaara alias Kartikeya. That work influenced the Gupta kings to name their children Skanda Gupta and Kumaara Gupta even though they were Parama Bhagavatas, i.e. Worshippers of Lord Vishnu.
Son of Shiva and Uma, younger brother of lord Ganesh, he is called Senaapati, that is the commander of the army of the Devas. So he is the god of war and the planet mars. He was produced from the six fire sparks from lord Shiva and brought up by six Kartika women and they are represented as stars in the heaven called Pleiades.
Lord Shiva cast his seed into fire, and it was received by Ganges; so he is known Agni bhu/fire born and Gaangeya.
He is represented riding on a peacock with a spear in his hand. He is shown with six heads to represent symbolically six Krittika/Kartikai women.
Because of his popularity , Adi Shankara established Kaumaaram- worship of Kumara/ Kartikeya – as one of the six systems. He has composed several hyms glorifying Subrahmanya.
Somaskanda idols are found in many south Indian temples. It means Skanda with uma (sa+ uma+ skanda= Somaaskanda)
Uma with Skanda
Six Faced (Aaru-Six, Mukan-Face)
Lord Skanda is called Murugan in Tamil.Murugan means handsome one, beautiful.
He has six heads and 12 hands in Shanmuga form. Shanmukha means six faces. You may wonder why? If you are at school final level, please got to Level Two of Skanda Murugan.
In normal form, he is also shown as a child like Ganesa. He is Kumara (youth) or Baala kumara.
Subrahmanya means he possesses all the qualities of Brahman (god).
The name Kartikeya came to him because he was raised by six Krittika women personified as stars in the sky.
He was born in a grass land and so he is known as Saravana bhava.
Saravana is the name of the forest/grass land
We know that Ganesa is the head of Bhuta Ghana’s and in the same way Murugan is the Commander of the Divine Army.
His festivals are Skanda Sashti, Vaikaasi Visaakam and Thai Poosam. In the modern day, New Year/ January First is also celebrated by visiting Murugan Temples by foot.
Skanda worship is very popular in Tamil speaking world such as South India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, Seychelles , South Africa etc Tamils celebrate all his festivals with Kavadi. They carry it to the Temple . A normal Kaavadi will have a long pole tied with two baskets on either side. Devotee s carry food and offerings to god in the attached pots or baskets. Later they constructed different shapes.
Another important thing is that his temples are mostly on top of hills or at the foot of the hills. There are six famous temples for him in Tamil Nadu.
Subrahmanya Bharti was a great devotee of Lord Skanda and he also composed several poems praising him.
There are very interesting stories about him. I will tell you a few stories here.
Story 1 (already given in Ganesa)
Mango Fruit Story
Story Two
He wanted to marry a girl called Valli, who fell in love with him. But she hesitated a lot. Murugan prayed to his brother Ganesh, the elephant headed god. He cam in the form of a real elephant and chased Valli and she naturally fell in the hands of Lord Murugan..
Another story is there was a demon called Sura Pathman and Muruga killed him. This is enacted every year during Skanda shasti festival in November. Tens of thousands of people go to see Sura Samhara at Tiruchendur in Tamil Nadu.
Number six is his favourite number. He was brough up by six women and his favourite geometrical diagram is Shad Kona- Star shaped. He is supposed to reside in this magical star diagram.
He is easily identified by the Spear weapon (Vel in Tamil) in his hand.
Vaikasi Visakam and Skanda Shasti are his big festivals. Thai Poosam is celebrated in Batu Caves in Malaysia
His special Prasad is Pancha Amrutam- made up of five fruits and jaggery or honey.
His famous temples are in …..
Batu Caves in Malaysia
Nallur and Kathigamam in Sri Lanka
Palani, Tiruttani, Swami malai, Palamuthircholai, Tirupparankundram and Tiruchendur in Tamil Nadu, India.
Om Saravana Bhava is his mantra
Sangam Tamil literarture has a full book on Him called Tirumurugaatruppadai (shortened as Murugu திருமுருகாற்றுப்படை (முருகு)). He is the god of mountainous area called குறிஞ்சி Kurinji . in addition to Murugu, we have several long poems devoted to him in Paripatal where 8 long poems are attributed to him.
In Tolkappiam , oldest tamil book, he is placed next to Vishnu and he was given the name சேயோன் Seyon , meaning the Redman.
Subrahmanya with his weapon Vel/Spear
மாயோன் மேய காடுறை உலகமும்
சேயோன் மேய மைவரை உலகமும்
Among the Ten Idylls of Sangam period, the long poem on Skanda Murugan, திருமுருகாற்றுப்படை (முருகு), ‘Tirumurugaatruppadai’ is given the first place. All these signify the importance given to Skanda/Murugan. Sangam poets called him வேள் , செவ்வேள் நெடுவேள், வேலன் in addition to Murugan.since he belonged to mountainous landscape called குறிஞ்சி KURINJI, he is called Kurinjik kizavan குறிஞ்சிக் கிழவன்.
Murugan means the Handsome one. He is always presented as a Young god. Nakkirar who composed the long poem on him portrayed him as young and beautiful :
என்றும் இளையாய் ,அழகியாய் ஏறூர்ந்தான் ஏறே
He is described as a Heroic god. He has Spear in his hand.. it is called Vel வேல்.
He is shown riding a peacock or an elephant named Pinimukam பிணிமுகம்
We see lot of similarities between Kumarasambhava of Kalidasa and Sangam books. But two important differences are marrying Tamil Valli and killing Tamil demon Suurapadman.
When Tamil girls become love sick, their mothers thought they are possessed by Murugan and sought the help of special village priest to drive away the sickness. He used to come in special dress and stage a dance with spear and offer meat and rice balls smeared with goat’s blood.
Tiru murugatruppadai explains that he is also worshipped in other places as well
முருகன் இருப்பிடங்கள்
சிறு தினை மலரொடு விரைஇ, மறி அறுத்து,
வாரணக் கொடியொடு வயிற் பட நிறீஇ,
ஊர்ஊர் கொண்ட சீர் கெழு விழவினும், 220
ஆர்வலர் ஏத்த மே வரு நிலையினும்,
வேலன் தைஇய வெறி அயர் களனும்,
காடும் காவும், கவின் பெறு துருத்தியும்,
யாறும் குளனும், வேறு பல் வைப்பும்,
சதுக்கமும் சந்தியும், புதுப் பூங் கடம்பும்,
மன்றமும் பொதியிலும், கந்துடை நிலையினும்
–From Tirumurgaatruppadai
–subham—
Tags- Lord Skanda, Murugan, Subrahmanya, Kartikeya, Peacock, Vel/Spear, Hinduism through 500 Pictures in Tamil and English – படங்கள் மூலம் இந்து மதம் கற்போம்-2
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