Kartikeya, also known as Murugan, Skanda, Kumara, Mahasena and Subrahmanya, is a Hindu god of war. He is a son of Parvati and Shiva, brother of Ganesha, and an important deity since ancient times. Kartikeya is particularly popular and predominantly worshipped in South India, Sri Lanka and Malaysia as Murugan
Kartikeya is an ancient god, traceable to the Vedic era. He is found in many medieval temples all over India and at the Ellora Caves and Elephanta Caves. The iconography of Kartikeya varies significantly. He is represented as an ever-youthful man, riding or near an Indian Peacock, dressed with weapons sometimes with a rooster in the flag he holds.
There are references in the works of Panini (500 BC), in Kautilya's Arthashastra and in hymn 5,2 of the Rig Veda. One of the major Puranas, the ''Skanda Purana'' is dedicated to him.
Kartikeya's presence in the religious and cultural sphere can be seen from the Gupta age. Two of the Gupta kings, Kumaragupta and Skandagupta, were named after him.
The Kushans, who ruled from present day Peshawar, and the Yaudheyas, a republic clan in Punjab, struck coins bearing the image of Skanda as did the Ikshvakus, an Andhra dynasty and the Guptas.
Kartikeya's popularity in North India receded from the Middle Ages onwards, and his worship is today virtually unknown except in Delhi, (Malai Mandir), in Haryana at Pehowa, where temple is dedicated to him and in Punjab, a temple stands at Achaleshwar, near Batala.
In South India, Muruga has continued to be popular and many of his names are of Tamil origin. These include Senthil, Arumuga and Maal-Marudan. The main temples of Murugan are located in Southern Tamil Nadu. He was a god for the Ikshvakus, in Andhra Pradesh and eight of the early Pallava dynasty rulers (300-500AD) were named after Skanda or Kumara, suggesting his significance by then,
In Sri Lanka, the sylvan shrine at Kataragama, the temple in Tirukovil, the shrine in Embekke and the famed Nallut Kandaswamy temple in Jaffna are dedicated to him. Malaysia has several temples, the most famous being the Batu Caves near Kuala Lumpur, having a 42.7m high statue of Murugan. Temples of Murugan are famous in Singapore, the United Kingdom and Australia too.
Kartikeya means ''of the Krittikas''. This epithet is also linked to his birth. Krittikas in Hindu texts is called Pleiades in Greek texts. They are a cluster of stars in the constellation of Taurus, called the ''seven sisters'' and sit on the neck and shoulder area of Taurus the Bull. In Vedic lore they were the wives of the ''Sapt Rishis''or the ''Ursa Major'' constellation. In Vedic astronomy the Pleiades cluster is known as the ''Krittika nakshatra''. The sisters had moved away to nurse the infant God except one who stayed behind. Kartikeya is represented with six heads too.
Orion and Kartikeya. As Kartikeyan is also known as ''the hunter'', he has been identified with the constellation ''Orion'' facing the charge of the Bull. Like Orion, Kartikeya is renowned for his enormous strength. Orion is generally shown in the star maps holding a club in his right hand. Although the spear is his favourite weapon, he also wields a club.
The specific symbolic connections between them can also be seen from the ''Dendera Zodiac'', which is inscribed on the ceiling of the Temple of Hathor in Dendera, Egypt built during the Ptolemaic Period (305-30 BC)
On the Dendera Zodiac, Orion is called Sah, holds a scepter and has a ''bird'' and a ''Rooster/Peacock'' behind him. The Rooster/Peacock is also a popular symbol of Kartikeya. This can be seen on a number of coins issued by the Yaudheya rulers in India. Thus, Kartikeya may be associated both with Orion and the Sah on the Zodiac and may open up a new understanding about the legends of Kartikeya killing the buffalo-demon, ''Mahisha'' as Orion faces the charging Taurus the bull. Thus, the Pleiades constellation is symbolised as the ''spear'' being thrust into the shoulder of the charging Bull, in order to slay ''Mahisha''.
On the Harappan tablet H95-2486, the spear has been thrust into the shoulder of the charging buffalo, and this is exactly where the Pleiades are located on the star map.
In Egyptian ancient texts Orion constellation is sacred to Horus, the falcon headed sky god. As per the Egyptian texts, Hathor was Horus's consort and his mother and is manifested as the ''Seven Hathors'' identified with the seven stars of the Pleiades.
Thus, there are similarities between Karthikeya and Horus at mythological and iconographical levels and maybe they are the same deity in different cultures. They were both even nurtured by the Pleiades sisters.
Coins depicting Kartikeya/Murugan
Yaudheya, 3rd century AD, weight 11.1 g, Obverse: Kartikeya standing facing, holding scepter, peacock at right, inscription in Brahmi around, lettering Yaudheya Ganasya Jaya, Reverse: Female goddess standing left with hand on hip.
Sikandagupta, Drachm, 455-480 AD, weight 2.30 g, Obverse: Kings bust facing right with traces of date, Reverse: Fan tailed peacock facing with wings spread, Brahmi legend around: Vijita vanir avanipati jayati divam Skandaguptoyam.
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