Kartikay

Kartikay

Murugan, the Hindu God of war and victory, is a popular deity among Tamil Hindus, and is worshiped primarily in areas with Tamil influences, especially South India, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Malaysia, Singapore and Reunion Island. His six most important shrines in India are the Arupadaiveedu temples, located in Tamil Nadu. In Sri Lanka, Hindus as well as Buddhists revere the sacred historical Nallur Kandaswamy temple in Jaffna and the sacred Buddhist and Hindu shrine of Katirkāmam Temple (also in Sinhala "Katharagama Devalaya") dedicated to him, situated deep south in the country. Ethnic Tamil in Penang and Kuala Lumpur, of Malaysia also pray to Lord Murugan during Thaipusam.

In Karnataka he is popular as Subrahmanya and is often associated with snakes, famous shrine Kukke Subramanya is well known for Sarpa shanti rites. In Andhra Pradesh and Bengal as well as other parts of Tamil Nadu, he is popular by the names Subrahmanya and Kartikeya (meaning 'son of Krittika') respectively. Murugan (Manifestation of beauty)is more popular in South India especially among the Tamil people compared to other peoples of India, and is famously referred to as Thamizh Kadavul (God of Tamils).