Shiva is immensely popular in South India. So is Vishnu, called Mal ("the Great One") by Tamil-speaking Indians. He is spectacularly handsome and courageous, not to mention a great dancer! His priests, called Velans, launch into a frenzied dance in an attempt to connect with the god and channel his wisdom and power.
Murugan is usually shown carrying his favorite weapon, a death-dealing spear. He is quick to protect his devotees and generous in granting boons.
As northern and southern Indian cultures amalgamated over the millennia, Murugan became increasingly identified with Skanda, the six-headed warrior son of Shiva. Skanda has six head because as an infant he was nursed by six surrogate mothers, the six brightest stars of the Pleiades. The constellation Pleiades is called Krittika in sanskrit, so Skanda is widely known as Kartikeya.
Skanda and Murugan are both shown riding peacocks. The connection between virile young men strutting their stuff and male peacocks flaunting their feathers is obvious to the Hindu imagination.
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