Karthigai Deepam and Muruga

Karthigai Deepam and Muruga

December 12^th, 2016 was Karthigai Deepam (CAAR-thi-gay DEE-pum) a festival of lights celebrated in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Karthigai Deepam is a festival celebrated in the name of the god Muruga, son of Shiva and Parvathi.

The Story of Muruga:

Once upon a time, the devas came to Lord Shiva in the Himalayas to tell him about their troubles because the ashuras had made the devas their slaves. (Deva generally means god and Ashura generally means demon.) Shiva consoled them saying a child will be born who will win in the fight against the ashuras. Then Shiva’s head became six heads, and from each a divine spark was emitted. The devas could not stand the heat and ran away, but Shiva told them not to worry as the sparks would not harm them. Shiva then asked Vayu (god of wind) and Agni (god of fire) to take the six sparks to Ganga (the goddess of water and goddess of the river Ganga in India), who will in turn take the sparks to the Saravana river. Vayu carried the divine sparks for a while, until the heat became unbearable and Vayu took them from him and carried them to Ganga. When the sparks reached the Saravana river, they joined together as one spark, which then became a six headed baby boy. Then six Krithika women arrived there. Seeing the baby, they all wanted to take care of him. Not wanting to cause a fight, the baby split into six babies – one for each of the Krithikas. They took care of the baby until Parvathi arrived. When Parvathi held all six babies together, they rejoined and became one six headed baby boy, who was Muruga. Because he was born on the banks of the Saravana river, he is called Saravanan. Because he was taken care of by the Krithika women, he is called Karthikeya. He is also called Kandha, Kumara, and many other names. Muruga grew up and eventually led the devas to victory in the fight against the ashuras.

Muruga once defeated the ashura Surapadma with his spear, which is his weapon, called a vel (pronounced VALE). The Ashura begged for forgiveness. Muruga then converted the two portions of his slain enemy into a peacock, which will henceforth be his mode of transportation, and a rooster that adorns his flag.

There is another story I would like to share with you. Muruga is Ganesha’s younger brother (Ganesha is also a son of Shiva and Parvathi). Once, Shiva got hold of a divine mango. Apparently it was supposed to taste really good. As any parent would do, he brought the mango home to Mount Kailash, his abode in the Himalayas, and called his sons Ganesha and Muruga. However, Shiva was told that the fruit must not be split in two or its divine taste would be gone. So Shiva decided to hold a competition for his sons and present the fruit to the winner. He said whoever goes around the entire universe three times first would get the fruit. Muruga immediately set off on his peacock and circled the universe. Ganesha however had only a rat as his form of transportation. Ganesha thought of a plan to win. He mounted his rat and circled his parents three times. By the time Muruga finished circling the universe thrice, Ganesha had finished going around Shiva and Parvathi thrice. Shiva gave the mango to Ganesha because he completed the race first. Muruga, enraged, asked why. Shiva explained that to Ganesha, his parents were his whole world, so he circled his parents and in doing so circled the universe. Ganesha got the mango, but Muruga was still furious and stormed off to Palani Hill in South India, and it certainly took a great deal of convincing to calm him down and bring him back. This is why Muruga has yet another name, Palaniyappa.

On Karthigai Deepam, numerous diyas (lamps) are lit and placed outside the house. As usual, a sweet or something is made as an offering to the gods.

I hope you enjoyed reading about Muruga! I would also like to inform you guys that THIS WEEKEND is PONGAL or SANKARANTHI, the harvest festival of South India.

Jan 13 is celebrated as Bhogi

Jan 14 is Pongal

Jan 15 is Maatu Pongal

ALSO, JANUARY 26^TH IS REPUBLIC DAY IN INDIA!

So now you know the upcoming holidays.