Brass Kartikeya Idol with Peacock Murugan Swami

According to Hindu legend, Shiva, the destroyer god, was destined to have a son who would be a great warrior and save the gods. In a version of Kartikeya's origin story commonly found in northern India, Shiva and his wife, Parvati, created a being with five faces. A glowing spark emerged from each face. Shiva sent the five-faced being into the holy Ganges river. The five sparks floated out, and each formed into a child. Young women found them in the forest pond, each taking and nursing one of the children. When Shiva and Parvati eventually took their children back, Parvati did not know how she could manage to take care of and feed all five. To make her job easier, Shiva merged the children into one being with six heads - one for each of the children, representing the five senses, and a final head to combine the senses into one, symbolic of the mind and power of Shiva. The six-headed child was the much-awaited warrior god, Kartikeya. Kartikeya means son of kittikas, or forest nymphs, a nod to the young women who first raised him. In northern India, his other names reflect his character. The name Skanda means ''attacker,'', referring to his brave crusade against the demons. In other stories, he is called Kumara, or ''boy.'' The name Kumara references his child-like appearance and eternal bachelorhood.
In the Tamil tradition of southern India, Kartikeya is known by two different names. He is worshiped typically as Murugan and is a very popular deity. Another common name he is given in the Tamil tradition is Subrahmanyan, which some translate as ''Dear to the Brahmins,'' or the religious leaders.