Kartikeya is worshipped as Murugan in South India

The reason for Kartikeya's decline could have coincided with the rise of Shaivism and Vaishnavism from 200 BC onwards, with the (later) Puranas doing the job of elevating the importance of Vishnu or Shiva. The Shakti imagery survived well because of its use in conjunction with Siva; so did the Ganesha one at least probably partly because the Puranas related to Ganesha were the latest; and Ganesha inherited a lot of the Vedic characteristics; Skanda got the longest purana but I guess got stuck in the middle.

The South was able to preserve this well probably because Murugan was already a God of the worldlier Sangam-era; the Sangam-era did not bother too much about the Brahmanical form of transcendence and the ascetic ideal. However, Vedic influences (Sanskritization) absorbed the Murugan imagery within the context of Skanda. One can probably consider this analogous to the "Sanskritization/Brahmanization" of the Alvars.

Lord Murugan has several names such as Kartikeya, Skanda, Kadamba, Kadirvela, Azhaga, Muthu Kumura etc, He has six houses of worship where he resides. His name Muruga also has 6 letters and he also has 6 faces.He was also brought up by 6 Kartigai girls. He also has 6 festivals celebrated for him. He is the favourite god of Southerners and Yezidis. He is considered as the 2nd son of Shiva and has two wives-Deivayanai and Valli.

To know about his 6 festivals…..1.Thaipoosam-The day on which Parvati gave the weapon “ Vel” to Muruga. 2.Panguniutthiram-The marriage day of Muruga and his first wife Deivayanai(Indra’s Daughter). 3.Vaikasi Visakam-His birthday. 4.Adi Kiruthikai-An important day for fasting and offering Kaavadi. 5.Soorasamharam (Main festival for Yezdis)-The day on which Lord Muruga killed the asura Soorapadman. 6.Kartigaideepam -The day on which he united with his mother Parvati. Kavadi(A offering done to Muruga)-Don’t get scared by seeing this pic.We evertime see it and have done this offering also. His six abodes of worship are….The six abodes are Thiruthani, Swamimalai, Palani, Pazhamudircholai, Thirupparankunram and Thiruchendur.All are in Tamil Nadu. Many famous temples are also present in Karnataka and Kerala.

Pazhani-The place he came and stood in Tamil Nadu and remained here forever.The statue of Muruga in this temple is not stone but was made by mixing up of Nine poisonous plants by Sage Bogar. Muruga is mainly worshipped in Tamil Nadu and Kerala along with Karnataka. He is a home god to many Southern Hindus. His picture in the calendar and his photo will be compulsory in all homes of Tamils.Everyday my mom first sees his face only.

Like Hare Rama,for all the things we call out his name as "Appane Muruga".Like Hanuman chalisa in Hindi,Lord Muruga’s Kanda Sashti kawacham in Tamil is very famous among us and we read it for courage and strength.Our evenings will be always dedicated to this song. Wherever we Tamils go ,we will build one temple for Lord Muruga. How can we forget the Kaavadi (a type of offering) performed for him.There are many types of Kaavadis also.Not to forget about the Avvaiyar.

He is also revered as Tamijh Kadavul Muruga(God of Tamizhs) by the Tamizhs. Tamizhs strongly beleive that Muruga is there ancestor who fostered Tamizh language and still continues to protect this language. Many of our names are kept on respect to the different names of Lord Muruga. The belidf is so hard that When Chistians try to convert poor and Dalit Tamils they first say “Muruga is our ancestor, Jesus is also an incarnation of Muruga.About Muruga it is written in Bible.After converting also you can still pray to him,