Kartikeya

Kartikeya (, ), also known as Skanda, Subrahmanya, Shanmukha and Murugan (), is the Hindu god of war. He is the son of Shiva and Parvati and the brother of Ganesha.

Kartikeya has been an important deity in the Indian subcontinent since ancient times. It has been postulated that the Tamil deity of Murugan was syncretized with the Vedic deity of Skanda following the Sangam era. He is regarded as the "God of the Tamil people" and is hailed as the lord of Palani hills, the tutelary deity of the Kurinji region whose cult gained immense popularity. Tamil Sangam literature has several works attributed to Murugan such as ''Tirumurukāṟṟuppaṭai'' by Nakkīraṉãr and ''Tiruppukal'' by Arunagirinathar. Archaeological evidence from the 1st-century CE and earlier indicate his iconography associated with Agni, the Hindu god of fire, suggesting he was a significant deity in early Hinduism.

The iconography of Kartikeya varies significantly; he is typically represented as an ever-youthful man, riding or near an Indian peafowl, called Paravani and sometimes with an emblem of a rooster upon his banner. He wields a spear weapon called vel, supposedly given to him by his mother Parvati. While most icons represent him with only one head, some have six heads which reflect the legend surrounding his birth wherein he was born as six boys who were later united into one by Parvati. He is described to have aged quickly from childhood, becoming a warrior, leading the army of the Devas and credited with destroying rakshasas such as Tarakasura and Surapadma. He is regarded as a philosopher who taught the pursuit of an ethical life and the theology of Shaiva Siddhanta.

Kaumaram is the denomination that primarily venerates Kartikeya. Apart from significant Kaumaram worship and temples in South India, he is worshiped as Mahasena and Kumara in North and East India. He is also worshiped in Sri Lanka, South East Asia notably in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia, other countries with significant people of Tamil origin like Fiji, Mauritius, South Africa and Canada, Caribbean countries including Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Suriname, countries with significant Indian migrants including the United States and Australia. Provided by Wikipedia