Murugan

(“fragrant, beautiful”) Hindu deity primarily worshiped in southern India.
Murugan originally appears in the Tamil
Sangam literature, where he is a hill
deity associated with the hunt and wild,
unsettled places. One of Murugan’s
characteristic objects is the lance, symbolizing the hunt. As brahminical Hindu
culture gradually came to southern
India, Murugan was drawn into the
established pantheon as a form of the
god Skanda, who is the son of the god
Shiva. By the tenth century Murugan’s
identity had evolved as that of a philosopher and exponent of the Shaiva
Siddhanta philosophical school and as
the patron deity of Tamil language and
literature. For southern Indians, especially in the state of Tamil Nadu, worshiping Murugan becomes a vehicle to
affirm their traditional culture. This has
been particularly true since Indian independence in 1947, when the attempt to
impose Hindi as the national language
was seen as northern Indian cultural
imperialism and was met with
incredible resistance. The cult of
Murugan has five major pilgrimage centers—Palani, Tiruchendur, Tiruttani,
Tirrupparankunram, and Swami Malai.
All of these sites are located in different
parts of Tamil Nadu. This network of
sacred sites (tirthas) is a way in which
the cult of Murugan has come to symbolize Tamil identity. For further information see Fred Clothey, “Pilgrimage
Centers in the Tamil Cultus of
Murukan,” in Journal of the American
Academy of Religion, Vol. 40, No.1, 1972.