Chapter 10

Tamil Kadavul

In the north Kartikeya's solo worship shrank hard; in the Tamil south Murugan is one of the great living gods

The six shrines

The Tirumurukarruppatai celebrates six sacred Murugan places. Later tradition fixed these as the Arupadai Veedu — Murugan's six abodes visited today:

Thiruparankundram (near Madurai — where he married Deivanai), Tiruchendur (the seashore — where Surapadman was killed), Palani (the hill — where he is Dandayudhapani, the ascetic), Swamimalai (where the boy Murugan taught his own father Shiva the meaning of "Om", and was called Swaminatha), Thiruthani, and Pazhamudircholai.

Thaipusam

Thaipusam — in the Tamil month Thai, under the star Pusam — is celebrated in Tamil tradition as the occasion when Parvati gave Skanda the vel.

Devotees carry the kavadi — the same shoulder-pole as Idumban's — and many have their bodies pierced with spears and hooks, through the cheeks and tongue, as a vow.

It is huge at Palani and at Batu Caves in Malaysia — where a 42.7-metre gold-painted statue of Murugan stands and crowds can exceed a million — and in Singapore, Mauritius, Réunion, South Africa and Fiji, wherever Tamil labour went.

Kataragama

At Kataragama in Sri Lanka there is a very old Skanda / Murugan shrine — worshipped by Hindus, Buddhists and the Vedda people alike. Valli is a local figure there.

"The Tamil god"

Murugan is called "Tamil Kadavul" — the Tamil god. The name is both old and modern.

He is the god most bound to the Tamil language and land, and his Tamil worship is among the oldest unbroken devotional traditions in India.

And the north

Across much of North India his independent cult declined after its early-medieval high point, but it did not vanish. Pehowa in Haryana is an important surviving northern shrine.

Kartik worship is alive in Bengal — both in the Durga family and as an independent Kartik Puja — and Kartikeya or Kumara traditions also survive in parts of the Himalaya and Nepal.

Note: The Tirumurukarruppatai celebrates six sacred Murugan places; later tradition fixed the modern Arupadai Veedu circuit as Thiruparankundram, Tiruchendur, Palani, Swamimalai, Thiruthani and Pazhamudircholai. The identification of every ancient place-name with a modern shrine is not equally certain. Swamimalai's name Swaminatha is from the story of the boy teaching his father the meaning of "Om". In living Tamil festival tradition, Thaipusam — Thai month under the Pusam/Pushya star — commemorates Parvati giving Murugan the vel; Skanda Shashthi in Aippasi is the festival cycle that culminates in the Surapadman war and Sura Samharam. The kavadi is from the Idumban story; the body-piercing is a form of vow. Batu Caves (Malaysia) has a 42-metre gold statue and draws over a million; with Tamil migration the festival spread to Mauritius, Singapore, Réunion, South Africa and Fiji. Kataragama (Sri Lanka) is a shared pilgrimage site — Hindu, Buddhist and Vedda. Kartikeya's independent cult became much less prominent across much of North India after its early-medieval high point, but it did not vanish. Pehowa in Haryana is an important surviving northern shrine; Bengal maintains both Kartik in the Durga family and independent Kartik Puja; and Kartikeya / Kumara traditions also survive in parts of the Himalayan region and Nepal.

Source: from several texts and traditions, Tamil Kadavul

Now — how much stayed with you?

Fact

What are Murugan's six abodes collectively called?

  • The twelve Jyotirlingas
  • The four Dhams
  • The Ashtavinayaka
  • Arupadai Veedu
Read the whole story — Six abodes

"Arupadai Veedu" means "the six camps".

The Tirumurukarruppatai celebrates these six sacred places.

The modern six-temple circuit was fixed by later tradition.

Fact

At which of the six abodes did the boy Murugan teach his father Shiva the meaning of "Om"?

  • Palani
  • Swamimalai
  • Tiruchendur
  • Thiruthani
Read the whole story — The son taught the father

The Swamimalai story is that the boy Murugan taught Shiva the meaning of "Om".

From this he was named Swaminatha — "master even of the master".

It is a Tamil Kanda-Puranam / Swamimalai temple tradition.

Fact

What do devotees carry on Thaipusam?

  • A pot
  • A lamp
  • The kavadi
  • A banner
Read the whole story — Idumban's pole

The kavadi story is from Idumban, who carried two hills to Palani.

On Thaipusam many devotees carry kavadi in fulfilment of a vow.

Many also pierce their bodies with spears and hooks, as a vow.

What happened?

What do many Thaipusam devotees do to their bodies as a vow?

  • Pierce spears through the cheeks and tongue and hooks in the back
  • Paint their bodies blue as a required vow
  • Shave their heads
  • Walk a hundred kilometres barefoot
Read the whole story — A vow of the body

Carrying the kavadi on Thaipusam is a severe vow.

Many devotees pierce the cheek, tongue or back with metal.

It is a form of pledge or penance.

Fact

What is the Murugan statue at Batu Caves, Malaysia, like?

  • Solid gold, ten metres tall
  • Stone, unpainted
  • Bronze, twenty metres
  • About 42.7 metres tall, painted gold (not solid gold)
Read the whole story — Gold-coloured, not gold

The Batu Caves statue is about 42.7 metres tall.

It is painted gold, not made of solid gold.

On Thaipusam over a million people can gather there.

Later tradition

Which Sri Lankan shrine is worshipped by Hindus, Buddhists and the Vedda people together?

  • Anuradhapura
  • Kataragama
  • Kelaniya
  • Dambulla
Read the whole story — A shared pilgrimage

Kataragama has an ancient Skanda / Murugan shrine.

Hindus, Buddhists and Vedda people all worship there.

Valli is a local figure there.

Fact

What does "Tamil Kadavul" mean?

  • "The Tamil god"
  • "God of the hills"
  • "God of war"
  • "The six-faced one"
Read the whole story — The Tamil god

The name is old — Tamil tradition itself calls him this.

And it is modern — a banner in language-and-identity politics.

He is the god most bound to the Tamil language and land.

The texts disagree

Does the Tirumurukarruppatai name today's exact six-temple circuit?

  • Yes, exactly those six
  • It names seven temples
  • No
  • It names no places
Read the whole story — Six places, fixed later

Nakkirar's poem gives weight to six sacred Murugan places.

But today's Arupadai Veedu circuit was joined by later tradition.

For example "Kunrutoradal" — "every hill" — was later tied to Thiruthani.

What happened?

What survives of Kartikeya's worship across northern and eastern South Asia?

  • Nothing; it vanished entirely
  • Pehowa in Haryana is a living shrine; Bengal keeps Kartik worship (in the Durga family and independently); the Himalaya and Nepal have traditions too
  • Only in Kashi
  • Only in Rajasthan
Read the whole story — Declined, not gone

After its early-medieval high point, Kartikeya's solo worship in the north declined sharply.

But Pehowa (Haryana), Bengal's Kartik Puja, and Himalayan and Nepali traditions survive.

Saying "only Haryana is left" is an overstatement.

Riddle

Across much of the north my once-prominent independent cult declined sharply; in the Tamil south I remain one of the great living gods. Who am I?

  • Ganesha
  • Hanuman
  • Ayyappan
  • Murugan / Kartikeya
Read the whole story — One god, two directions

In the Gupta age Kartikeya was a royal god of the north.

After the medieval period his solo worship declined in the north.

But in the Tamil south Murugan is still one of the great living gods.