|| OM SARAVANABHAVA ||

Subramanya, the second son of Siva, and the younger brother of Ganesha, is also known as Kumara, Karttikeya, Shanmukha, Muruga, Subramanya and many other names. His banner is the cock and vehicle the peacock which stands clutching a serpent in its talons. His Saktis or inseparable powers are Valli and Devasena (Deivayanai) whom he assumed in the course of the great history describing his multiformed life of a series of exploits both in the celestial and temporal realms.
The devotees of Subramanya form a large part of the population especially of Southern India, and constitute one of the important sections of the religion of the country. The advent of Subramanya was the background of the occasion when Siva burnt Manmatha with His third eye, a penalty he inflicted on Kama or the god of love for disturbing him in his meditation.
The story goes that the sparks which flashed forth from the third eye of Siva rushed through space, which Vayu and Agni carried and dropped into the river Ganga. Ganga, being unable to contain the divine energy, shoved it on to her banks, upon a shrub of reeds known as Sara. There is thus a combination of the ether, air, fire, water and earth principles in the depositing of the Tejas or energy of Siva in the world. The cumulative force which combined the forms of the five elements impregnated with the divine power of Siva (Divya-Tejas) manifested itself as a sixfold divinity with six faces (Shanmukha), including both the unmanifest and manifest elements in a single being.
This is the child of Siva, of mysterious birth, mysterious bringing up, under mysterious circumstances, for a mysterious purpose which the gods alone knew.The third eye represents the principle of intelligence and Subramanya, thus, as a revelation through the third eye of Siva, is said to stand for an incarnation of Divine Knowledge.
The principal weapon of Subramanya is a spear (Vel), pointed at its end and tall in stature. Devotees understand by it the need for one-pointedness of mind in slaying the demon of ignorance, which is expected to be sharp and sure in its aim. The gods, under the advice of Brahma, connived the birth of Subramanya through the instrumentality of Siva and his consort Parvati. The Asuras,—Surapadma, Simhamukha and Taraka,—who wrought havoc everywhere in creation, could be destroyed only by the son of Siva manifested as a special divine Power. Subramanya became the General of the celestial forces (Senani) and He is worshipped as the martial god of Hinduism.
The day on which He slew the Asura is celebrated on the sixth day of the bright half of the month of Karttika (October-November) according to one tradition, and the month of Margasirsha (November-December) according to another.
The Skanda Purana is devoted to the glorification of Subramanya and His sportful routing out of the Asuras. The great battle between the celestial forces led by Subramanya and the Asuras is an epic by itself. Kalidasa’s Kumarasambhava is a famous Sanskrit poem on the birth of the war-god. The Tamil poem, ‘Thiruppugazh’, by the saint Arunagirinathar, is held in as much esteem by the devotees of Subramanya as the Vedas in Sanskrit or the ‘Divya-Prabandham’ in Tamil Vaishnavism and the ‘Tevaram’ in Tamil Saivism.
His ‘Kandaranubhuti’ and ‘Kandaralankaram’ are other renowned songs on the love and experience of God as Skanda. It may be safely said that the cults of Vishnu, Siva, Sakti, Ganesha, Surya and Skanda form the six great sections in the book of the religion of the Hindus. Some would like to add the Pasupata cult, which is a minor group of the worshippers of Siva in a particular form. The Mahabharata recounts the principal deeds of Skanda.
The Kumara Tantra forms an important literature on the worship of Skanda. The Skanda Purana is a sacred book devoted to Skanda, and in its Tamil recension records the mighty deeds of the god.