It has been a really busy Sunday BUT I managed to squeeze in a little blog time on the train back home, a luxury that I was blessed with. Thank you, God.
Five days out of nine have whizzed past in a breeze and I definitely did enjoy taking this Navarathri experience under a more contemporary writing light – I hope you did enjoy reading all of them as much as I did writing them.
The fifth day today shines upon the manifestation of Durga as Skandamata, the mother of Murugan.
I can literally feel my heart clench as I wistfully form words to talk about the Goddess’s second heir, the little warrior who obviously has my heart. You could call it love, because well it is nothing but love for Murugan.
She sits with her son on her lap, and it is believed that it’s double the blessings of you worship her because the smile of Murugan also shines down on devotees, along with his mother’s.
The tale of Murugan was of something that I grew up listening to, time and time again as I watched my father talk about him like a son of the household. I was fed with faith and belief that if nothing goes right, I go to him. I’ve been staunchly keeping up with that devotion because I’ve also grown to depending on a superior power to mentally discipline myself – the form of that power stands tall, handsome with a thandai and kaavi clothes ; his name is Murugan.
The second son of Parvati and Shiva was begetted through the third eye of Shiva, as six fire sparks Legends of his birth varies across different accounts but as much as Ganesha is the primordial god even in international seas, Murugan is popularly worshipped amongst the South Indian/Lankan crowd.
Interestingly, Skandamata was represented in an old-age movie called “Aathiparasakthi” – the story of Kumara Gurubaran, the mute poet who was cured by Murugan himself and who went on to sing fables about the benovelent Madurai Meenamma. For anyone who had watched the movie, the scene of little Sridevi seated on Jayalalitha’s lap, the Tamil cinema’s personification of Skandamata remain etched in our young minds. Sridevi’s spellbinding performance as a little Murugan who repeatedly forced a mute Kumara Gurubaran – “Muruga-nu sollu !” – served us a spine-chilling reminder to repeat that mantra whenever we spiralled. (the goosebumps activate at the sound of that dialogue).
The role of Parvati in her sons’ lives were imminent, according to the fables. She squared up her husband for beheading her eldest son’s head. She presented her second son with the famed velto defeat Surapadhman and it’s pretty safe to say that this mother has been a sturdy backbone of her sons.
Just a little reminder that Lakshmi is still presiding on the pretty pink lotus until tomorrow, as we welcome the final member of the trinity and the last three days to conclude the celebration of the nine nights on the tenth this year.
Please feel free to also share your thoughts and anything you feel like telling me – I welcome everyone who wants to tell a story too !
