Vaikasi Visakam is celebrated on the birth anniversary of Lord Murugan, who is regarded as the warrior god. Lord Kartikeya, son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, is worshipped as Lord Murugan in Tamil Nadu and other southern states.
This year, Vaikashi Visakam will be celebrated on Saturday, June 3, as per the Tamil calendar.
Lord Murugan is also considered to be the chief deity of the ancient Tamils. He is also worshipped in other forms such as Kumaran, Saravana, Dandayudhapani and Swaminatha.
When is Vaikasi Visakam celebrated?
Vaikasi Visakam is celebrated when the Vishakha Nakshatra coincides with the full moon or Purnima Tithi in the Tamil month of Vaikasi. As per the Tamil calendar, Vaikashi is the second month of the year, which corresponds to May-June on the Gregorian calendar.
Significance
As per folklore, Lord Murugan was born out of Lord Shiva's third eye from a blazing flame, which even the gods and goddesses could not endure.
The enormous flame divided into six sparks as fairies and settled on the river Ganga. The six of them collectively were referred to as Krittikas, and Mata Parvati put the six entities together and this is how Lord Kartikeya or Murugan was born with six faces and 12 arms.
The six faces of Lord Murugan symbolise six traits or tatpurusha, aghoram, sadyojatam, vamadevan, eesanam and adhomukam.
Lord Murugan can simultaneously look at all directions including east, west, north, south, swarga (heaven) and patala (hell).
He is also hailed as the commander of gods’ army or the warrior God. He killed the demon Tarakasur who was blessed with the boon that only Shiva's son could kill him.
Apart from Tarakasur, Lord Murugan or Kartikeya also defeated demons named Soorapadman and Simhamukha.
Thus, Vaikasi Visakam is a day that marks the victory of the good over the evil and on this day devotees take out processions and carry milk to Lord Subramanya temples to perform milk ‘abhishekam’ (pouring water or other sacred substances) on the deity.
The devotees also undertake the task of carrying the kavadi (offerings to Lord Murugan) to the temples and perform havans (fire rituals) at the temple. Also, a grand arti (ritual) of Lord Murugan is performed on this day.
