Muruga, the son of Shiva and Parvati, is known by numerous names. Muruga, Skanda, Subramanya, Shanmukha, Kartikeya and Kumara are some of the most popular names. One of the popular names that is used in South India is Kumar or Kumara.
Muruga is known as Kumara as he is eternally youthful. He has no old age and is endowed with everlasting handsomeness.
Kumaran, Kumaraswamy, Kumar, Kumaresa, Kumara Deva are variations of the name Kumara.
The famous Sanskrit poem Kumarasambhavam is based on the story of Muruga.
It is believed that when a devotee prays to Kumara, the devotee is invoking both Shiva and Goddess Parvati.
There is also a belief that Kumara, like the youthful Dakshinamurthy Shiva, symbolizes the legitimate right and obligation of the young to teach the old. Shiva the pure, timeless awareness, operates in and through Kumara, the human god divine, the glimpse of liberation.
Agni, the fire god in Hinduism, was also referred to as Kumara (Rig Veda V:2). As Agni was also involved in carrying the fiery seed of Shiva which resulted in the birth of Muruga, he got the name Kumara. This is as per some scholars.
It is believed that when a devotee prays to Kumara, the devotee is invoking both Shiva and Goddess Parvati.
There is also a belief that Kumara, like the youthful Dakshinamurthy Shiva, symbolizes the legitimate right and obligation of the young to teach the old. Shiva the pure, timeless awareness, operates in and through Kumara, the human god divine, the glimpse of liberation.
Agni, the fire god in Hinduism, was also referred to as Kumara (Rig Veda V:2). As Agni was also involved in carrying the fiery seed of Shiva which resulted in the birth of Muruga, he got the name Kumara. This is as per some scholars.
There is also a popular Kumara Tantra a manual providing
instruction in ritual techniques. This was available even before the 11th
century AD.