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Art and Culture of Tamilnadu
R. Nagaswamy
4. THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF KAUMĀRAM
The worship of Kumāra-Murugan or Subrahmaṇya-as the Supreme is known as Kaumāram. Differing views are expressed on the origin of this cult. According to Tamil tradition, the cult of Muruga is native to the Tamil country, as he is considered the presiding deity of the Tamil language. The worship of Subrahmaṇya has been commanding great respect in Tamil Nadu from very early times and has become a part of Tamil life. It is in this part of India that worship of this deity is widely prevelant to this day. In northern India, the cult of Kumāra seems to have had its beginnings in the Vedic age. Some scholars trace the origin of this deity to the Indo-Iranian period while others suggest a Mediterranean origin.
During the ages, many stories accumulated relating to the birth of Subrahmaṇya. There are different accounts in the epics and Purāṇas. According to the Rāmāyaṇa Subrahmaṇya, also called Kārtikeya, was the son of Agni and the river Goddess Ganga. The Mahābhārata calls him son of Agni and Svāhā, while the Purāṇas describe him as the younger son of Śiva and Pārvati, the Primordial parents of the Universe. It is the last mentioned that is widely known and accepted.
“Skanda is blended of aspects of Ṛg Vedic Apamnapāt, Trita Āpatya, Soma, Agni, Indra, Varuṇa, Bṛhaspati, and Hiraṇyagrabha. Skanda is a Ṛig-vedic divinity affirming the immensity and the variety of Reality” says T.G. Aravamudhan in a learned note on Skanda. (Trans. Arch. Soc. of S. India, vol. VII, pp. 129 ff.). In this connection the following needs mention.
According to the Vedas, Soma is the embryo of the waters or their child. Seven sisters as mothers are said to be around the child, the new born, the Gandarvas of the waters. Soma is also spoken of as a youth. The identity of Subrahmaṇya with the Agni, Soma of the Vedic period has been accepted by other scholars as well. It may be recalled that Rudra is identified with Agni in Vedic hymns. This syncretism probably gave rise to different legends relating to the birth of Skanda, though in reality they point to one and the same source.
Kumāra-Muruga is known by various names like, Skanda, Kārtikeya, Shaṇmuka, Paḻaṉi Āṇḍi, Subrahmaṇya and so on. Śakti is his special weapon and he is therefore, called Śaktidhāra. In the Tamil country Vël (the spear) is considered his weapon and he is called Vëlon or Vëlavaṉ. After his birth Kumāra was nourished by the Kṛttikās and so came to be called Kārtikeya. He is known as Shaṇmuga or Ārumuga as he is six-headed. As the lord of sacrifices, he is affectionately worshipped as Brahmaṇyadeva; sacrifice is considered symbolic worship of knowledge and so Subrahmaṇya is known as the giver of knowledge, worshipped by saints and sages. He is said to have taught the secrets of knowledge to Brahma in which aspect he came to be recognised as Brahmasāsta. In the Tamil country. He is also said to have explained the meaning of the the mystic word “Om” to his father, Śiva and came to be called Tagappaṉsvāmi. Kumāra is extolled for having destroyed the terrific demon, Surapadma, according to Tamil traditions and Tārakāsura, according the Purāṇic version. The Śakti, his weapon, the peacock his mount and the cock (Kukkuṭa) his standard are often praised.
In northern parts Kumāra is worshipped as a Brahmachāri at places while at other places, he receives adoration with his consort, Devasena. In the Tamil country, in addition to Devasena, Subrahmaṇya is said to have married Vaḷḷi, a huntress. Vaḷḷi, Devasena, and Śakti, his weapon, are considered personifications of Ichchhā, Kriyā and Jñana Śaktis, i.e., thought, action and knowledge respectively. Kumāra carries various weapons in his arms, which were presented to him by various Gods to assist him, in the fierce battle with Sūrapadma.
The Tamils affectionately call him Muruga; Muruga standing for youth, the God, a beautiful being and so on. He is also called Cëyön, a child. The earliest surviving Tamil grammar, Tolkāppiyam mentions him as the presiding deity of the mountain country designated as Kuruñji — cëyön meya mai varai ulagamum.
The Tamil Sangam works assigned to a period ranging from the third century B.C. to the second century A.D. carry copious references to Cëyön and his worship. A verse in the Puranāṉūru mentions the ever victorious Muruga, mounted on a war elephant and his standard was peacock.
maṇi mayil uyariya māṟā veṉṟip
piṇimuka ūrti oḷ ceyyōṉum eṉa
ñālam kākum kāla muṉpiṉ
tōlā nal icai nālvar uḷ um
kūṟṟu ottīē māṟṟu aru cīṟṟam
vali ottīē vāliyōṉai
pukaḻ ottīē ikaḻunar aṭunaṉai
muruku ottīē muṉṉiyatu muṭittaliṉ
— Puram-56
The same work refers to temples of Subrahmanya at various places :
aṇaṅkudai murukan köṭṭam —Puram-299; veṇtalai puṇari alaikkum centil neṭuvël nilai iya kāmar viyanturai —Puram-55
Besides the above, there are number of references relating to Muruga in other works. It is necessary, however, to mention two works of the Saṅgam period, which has special bearing on the worship of Muruga — the Paripāḍal and Tirumurugāṟṟuppaḍai, the first of the ten idylls. The first may be said to be a literary Work par excellence of the Kaumāra school. Nakkīrar, the author describes in most sublime poetry the various manifestations of Subrahmaṇya and the path leading to a devotion and final emancipation. The divine activities of the six faces are graphically portrayed. Six places came to be specially associated with Subrahmaṇya and they are Tirupparamkuṉṟam, Tiruccendūr, Tiruccenköṭu, Tiru Eraham, Paḻam-udir-Colai and Kuṉṟutör-āṭal. The last mentioned is not identified with any particular place, but all hillocks, where Muruga is invoked and worshipped. That Subrahmaṇya is the embodiment of knowledge and is worshipped by saints and sages as well as hunters and others is reflected in this poem.
The second work of great merit, also assigned to the Saṅgam age, is the Paripāḍal; a collection of poems by a number of poets. A good number of poems of this collection relate to Muruga and furnish valuable data about the legends and worship of this deity in the Tamil country. Almost all the legends known to the Purāṇic period, like his birth and attributes, the weapons presented by various gods, etc., are found mentioned in this work. Kumāra is compared in this poem to a lustrous fire. Some special traits mentioned in this work are that he is seated under a Kaḍamba tree and wore leather chappals on his feet.
In the northern tradition, the Chandogya Upanishad (Ch. 7) speaks of Skanda as the Supreme Being. Pāṇini's Vyākaraṇa Sūtra and Patañjali's Bhāṣya on these aphorisms speak of images of Skanda and Viśākha. In the Kāśyapa samhita (chapter on Revati Kalpa), Kārtikeya, Viśākha, Skanda and Mahāsena are spoken of as brothers of Goddess Shaṣṭi. However, these four deities were merged into one being in later times. This points to the widely prevelent cult of Skanda during the times of Pāṇini in the pre-Christian era. Kumārasambhava one of the best literary works in Sanskrit by Kalidasa is devoted to the birth of Kumāra. The Baudhāyana Dharmasūtra describes in detail the daily libations of a householder among which we find libations to Skanda and his pāriṣads. The Skandapurāṇa in Sanskrit, and Kandapurāṇam in Tamil treat exhaustively of the exploits of Muruga.
Mention has been made of the prevalence of the Kumāra cult in the fifth century B.C. The dynasties that ruled India during different periods claimed to the votaries of Subrahmaṇa. The Kuṣānas and the Kṣatrapas who ruled North West Frontier Provinces were great devotees of Brahmaṇyadeva. The coins of Kuṣāna King, Huviṣka feature Skanda and Mahāsena holding standards surmounted by peacock. The Yaudheyas, who adopted the republican form of government and who flourished in certain parts of the Punjab from the second century B.C. to the fourth century A.D., dedicated their kingdom to Subrahmaṇya and issued coins bearing his figure and legands. In some coins the legends read Bhagvān Svāmi, Brahmaṇya Kumāra. The devices on some of the silver coins of the Yaudeyas show six-headed Kārtikeya and Kārtikeya's consort Kumāradevi. On the copper coins of this clan are seen figures of Kārtikeya and his consort with the legend “Yaudheyagaṇasya Jaya”.
In the Gāndharan school Hariti is the presiding deity of Goddess fertility and children and is depicted with tender feelings on the face, with children at her breast and shoulder. She became the veritable Mother Goddess in Gāndhara. Sometimes she is depicted as a four-armed deity holding a long trident and water pot in her left hand; a true counterpart of the Indian Goddess Pārvati. This probably inspired in later times, Uma carrying Skanda as a child on her lap as in the Somāskanda image of the Pallavas. A seal found at Bhita by Marshall shows a peacock with the legend Śrī Skanda Sūrasya.
The Ikṣvākus of Nāgārjunakoṇḍa in the third century A.D. were great devotees of Kumāra and styled themselves “Svāmi Mahāsena patighitacha”. Temples dedicated to Kārtikeya have been found during excavations at Nāgārjunakoṇḍa. A two armed Kārtikeya holding a cock and Śakti in his arms has been found in the same place. A similar Sculpture assigned to the Kṣatrapas is now in the Baroda Museum. The following epithets of the rulers of the Chālukya dynasty will show their intense love and devotion to Lord Subrahmaṇya, Svāmi Mahāsena Pādānudhyatia rathānān.
In the south, the Pallavas were worshippers of Skanda. In the list of early Pallavas a number of kings bear names like Kumāra, Skanda, etc. A number of copper plate charters of the Pallavas refer to them as Parama Brahmaṇyas, Paramabhāgavatas and Parama Māheśvaras. The Pallavas Were often equated with Kumāra.
subrahmaṇyaḥ kumāro guha iva paramāt īśvarāt ātma jammā — Rājasimha Pallavas
The worship of Subrahmaṇya may be studied under three catagories: (a) as the Supreme Being i.e. the Pradhāna or the Svatantra devata; (b) on par with other deities i.e. Samaprādhana; and (c) as a subsidiary deity i.e. Parivāra devata.
Subrahmaṇya is considered a main parivāra devata in both Śiva and Viṣṇu temples and receives daily worship. He is either provided with a separate niche (deyakoṣṭa) on the walls of the garbhagraha or a subsidiary shrine within the prākāra of the temple. A number of early temples, especially of the Śiva cult, have survived which retain this feature to this day. In the Pallava temples of Kāñci, Subrahmaṇya is shown on the north wall, standing in Samabhaṅga wearing a chhannavīra. He is four-armed, holding akṣamāla and kuṇḍika in the upper pair of arms. This emphasises that he was an embodiment of knowledge. In some of the early Chöḻa temples of Tamil Nadu like Kīḻaiyūr, Subrahmaṇya, is placed on the back niche of the garbhagraha, facing east.
As a parivara devata, Kumāra is enshrined in a subsidiary shrine in the western quarter of the temple, as at Melappaḻuvūr (in Kaliṅga, Kārtikeya is shown on the northern niche of the temple). Subrahmaṇya is also shown on the eastern face of the Vimāna of the Śiva temples, sometimes on the grīva. Almost every Śiva temple has now a metal image of Subrahmaṇya, which is taken out in procession along with the main deity and forms the Pañcamūrti concept of recent times.
That Subrahmaṇya was worshipped as a Samapradhāna deity is known from early Saṅgam works. Śiva, Balarāma, Kṛṣṇa and Ceyon are often referred to jointly. In laying out a Village or town, the Vāstu texts allot a particular direction for the temple of Subrahmaṇya which must receive worship with other deities of the village that constitute the devatā maṇḍala of the layout.
A few small panel sculptures discovered in the Pallava territory show a row of deities seated on a common pedestal. The sculptures generally Śiva, Śakti, his consort, Narasimha with Sri, Brahma and Subrahmaṇya. The sculptures have come from Munnur, Maṇimaṅgalam, and Tennëṟi. These sculptures of early Pallava origin were evidently installed in small temples and were worshipped. The worship of Śiva, Viṣṇu and Subrahmaṇya together is of great historic interest. This would explain the titles assumed by the Pallavas as Parama Māhesvaras, Parma Bhāgavatas and Prama Brahmaṇyas. This would also explain some of the cave-temples excavated by the Pallavas. The Trimūrti cave at Mamallapuram has three shrines carved in a row. The first one is dedicated to Subrahmaṇya, the central one to Śiva and the third one to Viṣṇu, while on the side of the rock is carved an image of Durga. The entrance of the Subrahmaṇya sanctum is adorned by sages, while the other sancta are flanked by dvārapālas. It is evident that sages are represented in the place of dvarapalas as Muruga is Brahmaṇya deva (the giver of knowledge). It has been suggested that the Arjunaratha, one of the five Rathas in Mamallapuram might have been intended for Subrahmaṇya. The lower rock cut cave at Tiruccirāpalli is of great interest. It has two excavated sancta, one dedicated to Śiva and the other to Viṣṇu, facing each other on the side walls. On the back wall are shown five panelled sculptures in a row, the centre of which represents Brahma. To the right of Brahma are Ganeśa and Kumāra while on the left are Sūrya and Durga. Subrahmaṇya receives equal importance with other deities. Incidentally this is perhaps the earliest surviving temple dedicated to the six deities which constitute the Ṣaṇmata of the Hindu religion. The cave was probably excavated by the Pallava genius, Mahendra I, in the first quarter of the seventh century A.D.
At Tirupparamkuṉṟam, near Madurai is a cave-temple excavated in the reign of the Pāṇḍyas in the eigth century A.D. The cave is of great interest as it has five sancta, two facing each other on the side walls, and three in line on the back walls. The deities that are enshrined in these sancta are Śiva, Viṣṇu, Subrahmaṇya, Ganeśa and Durga. Except Sūrya, the other deities of the Ṣaṇmata are given equal importance here. It is of interest to note that such a synthesis has been attempted in Tirupparamkuṉṟam which is traditionally considered the chief abode of Subrahmaṇya.
Lord Muruga was worshipped as the primordial deity, Svatantra devata in the Tamil country from very early times. Mention has been made earlier of the independent temples dedicated to Subrahmaṇya that existed during the Saṅgam age. That Thirucendūr was an important Subrahmaṇya Kṣetra in early times had also been referred to earlier. The Tamil classic Silappadhikāram refers to the temple of Muruga as Vëlköṭṭam. The chapter on Kuṉṟakkuravai in the same work extols the greatness of Muruga and the worship of the same deity by the residents of hillocks.
As a Svatantra devata all the other deities, including Śiva, adore his greatness. In an independent temple of Subrahmaṇya, Śiva and Śakti are provided with subsidiary shrines. This is reflected in a poem of Paripāḍal, in which the temple of Subrahmaṇya at Paramkuṉṟam is extolled, Śiva, Viṣṇu, Brahma, the twelve solar deities (dvadasa Ādityas), the Aśvins, Aṣṭavasus, the eleven Rudras, the dikpālas and others are said to have descended on earth and reside at Paramkuṉṟu, singing the praise of Lord Muruga. This is obviously a reference to the above deities enshrined as parivāra devatas in the Svatantra ālaya of Subrahmaṇya. This has the sanction of the Vāstu. Sāstras, and may be considered the fullblown Kaumāra concept.
A number of independent temples dedicated to Subrahmaṇya have survived in the Tamil country from at least the eighteenth century A.D., while the earlier ones have undergone modifications. A cave excavated for Subrahmaṇya, with probably Vaḷḷi as his consort is found at Ānaimalai, near Madurai. Another. cave-temple exclusively dedicated to Subrahmaṇya is found at Kaḻugumalai in Tirunelveli district. An early Chöḻa temple at Kannanūr, near Pudukköṭṭai, and another at Uttiramerūr near Madras, have Subrahmaṇya temples of the Chöḻa periods. A number of other temples need not be listed here listed.
Besides the early surviving temples, the other hallowed temples have been renovated and enlarged in subsequent periods. A number of new temples have also gradually been assuming importance during the past few centuries. The worship of Subrahmaṇya has received a great impetus due to the soul stirring poems of the saint Aruṇagiri, contemporary of King Prauḍadevarāya of the Vijaynagara dynasty. The temple of Paḻani, Svāmimalai, Tiruttaṇi and others attract large numbers of pilgrims throughout the year.
There are a number of early Chöḻa bronzes of exquisite beauty that are under worship in the temples of which the image of Subrahmaṇya at Gaṅgaikoṇḍachöḻapuram is a superb specimen of the 11th century A.D.
Kumara is worshipped by devotees for various special reasons besides the common ones. In Maharashtra, women are said to be afraid of going to the temple of Kārtikeya. It is not possible to say why this belief is current in that part of the country. In Bengal, Kārtikeya is worshipped for child birth. It is also stated that the dancing girls of Bengal till recent times worshipped Lord Kumara on a particular night of the year.
In the Tamil countty, Muruga is adored for various reasons. The religious text dealing with the worship of Muruga is called Kumāra tantra.
Muruga is propitiated by the Kuṟavas for rains. They dance the Kuṟavai Kūttu for this purpose. The grains obtained from the first crop were offered to Muruga. Kumara was adored by girls for getting beautiful husbands. Married women worship him so that their husbands may bestow affectionate love on them. For begetting children, Kumara is worshipped. Women whose husbands went to the battle-front propitiated Muruga, praying for the victorious return of their husbands. While these are ephemeral requests, the ultimate aim of the Tamils in worshipping Muruga “is not fulfilment of fleeting pleasures, but the benefaction of righteous conduct, devotion and Divine grace", says Paripāḍal.