Page:South-Indian Images of Gods and Goddesses.djvu/197

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Skanda or Kumāra is another of Siva's sons known to Hindu mythology. He is represented with six faces (Shadānana) and as riding on a peacock. Being supposed to have been brought up by the six mothers, the Krittikas (Pleiades), he is known as Shānmātura and Kārttikēya. The Purānas state that he was born of the fiery energy of Siva in a forest of grass (sara-vana), became the commander of the army of the gods in their battle against the giant Tāraka, and that he rent asunder by his arrows the mountain Krauncha. The birth of Skanda-Kumāra is described at great length by the famous poet Kālidāsa in his well-known work Kumārasambhava. Skanda is also known by the name Subrahmanya in the Tantras. In some unexplained way there exists an intimate connexion between the worship of Subrahmanya and of the serpent. The common name Subba or Subbarāya found among the Telugu, Canarese and Tamil people is explained to be both a contraction of Subrahmanya and a synonym for serpent. The sixth day of a lunar month (shashthi) is held as peculiarly sacred to Subrahmanya, as to the serpent god. His riding on a peacock, his marriage with the forest maid Valliyamman, and the fact that his most famous temples are on hill tops, show that he is connected with the ancient tree and-serpent-worship and the sylvan deities. The Silpasāra describes him under name Subbarāya as having six faces, three eyes, the peacock vehicle and the weapons sakti, thunderbolt, sword, etc. The Silpasangraha describes him as having two arms, the sacred thread, a tuft, girdle, kaupina and staff like the unmarried students of the Vēdas (brahmacharin). It may be noted that the day shashthi, sacred to serpent worship in Southern India, is celebrated by feeding brahmachārins and presenting cloths to them.

The Kāsyapa-Silpa sets down that the image of Skanda may be made of two, four, six or twelve hands and may have either six faces or only one. The symbols generally are the sakti, arrow, sword, discus, noose, a bunch of peacock's feathers, shield, bow, plough, rosary and the postures abhaya and varada. When the image has two hands, the left hand holds a cock (kukkuta) and the right hand a sakti (the Tamil vēl) Hēmādri speaks of him as wearing a red cloth and riding on a

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