Lord Muruga is the most popular Hindu deity among the people of Tamil Nadu. He is the son of Lord Shiva and Parvati, his brother is Ganesha and his wives are Valli and Deivayanai, he is known by different names like Subramanya, Subramani, Muruga, Shanmuga, Skanda, Karthilkeya, Arumuga and Kumaraswamy. Muruga is intimately associated with hilly regions, known in Tamil as Kurinji and is worshipped as the guardian deity.
Lord Muruga is a special God with special powers. By worshipping lord Muruga with deep devotion, faith and bhakti all the troubles and difficulties in ones' life vanish and good days start appearing.
About Lord Muruga
The story of Lord Muruga is described in Skanda Purana. According to legend in the olden days a demon Soorapadman. He tortured the Devas who went to complain to Lord Vishnu and Brahma. They assigned Kamadeva to awake Lord Shiva from his penance, who later gave birth to Kartikeya. Kartikeya killed Soorabadman and saved the devas. Muruga is depicted as the god of love and war. Kartikeya married Valli by love and married Deivayanai by winning the war held at Tiruchendur.Kaumaram is the sub-set of Hinduism in which Kartikeya is worshipped as the supreme deity.
In Tamil literature five types of lands are explained. They are Kurinji (mountainous region), Mullai (forest region), Marutham (agricultural region), Neithal (coastal region) and Palai (desert region).Separate gods for these land types are clearly told in Sangam literature. According to the literature Lord Muruga is the god of mountainous region.
Symbolism
Sculpture of the god Skanda, from Kannauj, north India, circa 8th century.Kartikeya symbols are based on the weapons – Vel, the Divine Spear or Lance that he carries and his mount the peacock. He is sometimes depicted with many weapons including: a sword, a javelin, a mace, a discus and a bow although more usually he is depicted wielding a sakti or spear. This symbolizes his purification of human ills. His javelin is used to symbolize his far reaching protection, his discus symbolizes his knowledge of the truth, his mace represents his strength and his bow shows his ability to defeat all ills. His peacock mount symbolizes his destruction of the ego.
Six Abodes of Murugan
Thirupparamkunram : Located on the outskirts of Madurai on a hillock where Kartikeya married Indra's daughter Deivanai. Nakkeerar worshipped Muruga in this shrine and is said to have worshiped Lord Shiva here as Parangirinathar.
Tiruchendur : Located on the sea-shore near Tuticorin[11] amongst the remains of Gandhamadana Parvatam or Santhanamalai (Sandal Mountain)[12]. The temple commemorates the place where Muruga worshiped Shiva and won a decisive victory over demon Soorapadman.
Palani : Located south east of Coimbatore, the temple is build on a hill top where Muruga resided after his feud with his family over a divine fruit. The main deity is made out of an amalgam of nine minerals popularly called Navabashana.
Swamimalai : Located at 5 km from Kumbakonam, the temple is built on an artificial hill. The temple commemorates the incident where Muruga explained the essence of "Om" to his father Shiva.
Thiruthani : Located near Chennai, Muruga reclaimed his inner peace after waging a war with Asuras and married Valli here.
Pazhamudircholai : Located on the outskirts of Madurai on a hillock with a holy stream nearby called "Nupura Gangai". Muruga is seen with both his consorts Deivanai and Valli.
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