Murugan-The warrior Lord

Since it is Skanda Shashti time, we'll discuss Murugan/Skanda.

Known as Murugan/Skanda/Subrahmanya, He is a deity very dear to crores
of Hindus across the world, especially the Tamils of India, SriLanka,
Singapore, Malaysia and Mauritius, by whom He is affectionately called
the "Tamizh Kadavul" or Tamil God.
He is also my Ishta Deivam :)
He is the warrior Lord, and even the Bhagavad Geetha mentions Lord Krishna
telling Arjuna that among warriors, He is Skanda.(Senaninam Aham Skandah)
A brief history of Murugan:
Yes, it's the same fascinating narration of the victory of good over evil.
The demon Surapadman was wreaking havoc everywhere and was threatening
even the Devas. Terrified, the Devas rushed to Kailasa to ask Siva's help.
However, they found Siva in deep meditation. Knowing very well that it would
be foolish to disturb Siva, they took Brahma's suggestion of using Manmatha
(The Deva of desire) to wake up the Lord.
Manmatha sent his arrow of flowers on Siva to bring Him out of meditation,
knowing very well that he would have to incur Siva's wrath, however he did
this for common benefit.
Siva got up and the intense fire from His third eye immediately burnt
Manmatha to ashes. Then came intense sparks from Him which were taken
by Vaayu and Agni to the Ganga, and then taken by the river to a forest
(Vana) of reeds(Sara) (Thus, Murugan is also called Saravana in Tamil).
This became 6 children, which were raised by the 6 Karthika Devis.
Then, Parvati embraced the babies, converting them to one young boy with
six faces (Shanmugha). Since He was raised by the Karthika Devis, He's called
Kaarthikeya.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Offer Pooja to Pazhamudircholai Lord Murugan & get his divine blessings - click here
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A fine warrior, Murugan was blessed with a Vel (Dhanda)- a weapon by Lord
Siva and hence He's called Velaayudhan or Dhandapaani. He then proceeded
to fight the evil Soorapadman. The fight went on for 6 days, and on the sixth day,
Murugan defeated Soorapadman, converting him to a cock.
(If you see a picture of Murugan, you can find the Vel in a hand and a flag
with the picture of the cock in another hand.)
These six days are celebrated as the Skanda Shashti festival. This starts on the
Prathamai (first day of the bright fortnight) just after Deepavali. The devout
fast during this time. The festival concludes on the Shashti (6th day) with the
enacting of "Soorasamharam"-the killing of Soorapadman by Murugan, and the
"Thiru kalyanam"-Murugan's wedding ceremony. His two consorts, Valli and
Devayanai are symbols of Icha Shakti (Will) and Kriya Shakti (Action) respectively.
Devotees throng temples during this time.

(The burning of Manmatha by Siva is expressed as a stunning painting in the
Brihadiswara temple of Thanjavur. In this, Siva is burning Manmatha-the fiery
eyes show anger, but at the same time, one can see a discreet smile on His lips.
Once, a foreigner saw this painting and said that it's a thousand times more
beautiful than the Monalisa!)

OK, it's Kanda Shashti this Saturday, and I'll be visiting Muruga in His first abode, Thirupparankundram, just metres away from where I'm now!