Deities · Shaiva Family
Lord Kartikeya
कार्तिकेय
Kārtikeya
Younger son of Shiva and Parvati, born to slay the asura Tarakasura. As Murugan in the Tamil tradition, he is the cosmic warrior whose Vel pierces ignorance, ego, and fear.
Quick facts
- Era
- Eternal / Sanatana
- vahana
- Paravani (Peacock)
- consort
- Devasena, Valli
- Abode
- Mount Kailash / Palani
Attributes & symbols
Emblems most often depicted with Lord Kartikeya. Hover for gloss · click to search.
Essays
Related essays
Skanda Ṣaṣṭhī — Kārtikeya's Six Days
A six-day vow building to a single reenacted battle — and, in the moment of the demon's defeat, a transformation the Tamil retelling insists on keeping: not death, but the enemy remade into the god's own peacock and rooster.
Essay · Iconography · VāhanaWhy Every God Rides Something — Vāhana Symbolism Across the Pantheon
Gaṇeśa's mouse, Śiva's bull, Durgā's lion, Viṣṇu's Garuḍa, Sarasvatī's swan, Yama's buffalo, Kārtikeya's peacock and Indra's elephant: where each pairing comes from in the texts, how it is usually read, and which readings are later tradition rather than scripture.
Chālīsā & Bhajan
