Skandamata

Skandamata is four-armed, three-eyed, and has a lion as her mount. One of her hands displays the fear-dispelling abhayamudra gesture, while the other is used to hold the infant form of her son Skanda on her lap. Her remaining two lower hands are typically shown holding lotus flowers. She is light-complexioned. As she is often pictured seated on a lotus, she is sometimes referred to as Padamasani.^[4]

According to the Shiva Purana,^[5] after his wedding to Parvati, Shiva retired to his abode of Kailasha and engaged in prolonged dalliance with her, lasting a thousand years. During this period, the gods became concerned that no son had yet been born who could fulfill their task of slaying the asura Taraka. Though reluctant to interrupt Shiva, led by Vishnu and Brahma, they travelled to his abode to seek an audience with him.

Shiva, heeding their pleas, allowed his semen to fall to the ground. Urged by the gods, Agni assumed the form of a dove and swallowed it to prevent its loss, but was afflicted by a burning sensation. Parvati, displeased by the intrusion, scolded the gods, accusing them of selfishness and stating that their actions had disrupted her union with her husband. Following Shiva’s instructions, Agni deposited the semen in the morning baths of six of the seven sages’ wives. The wives became pregnant and, unable to bear the effects, expelled the semen as a foetus, which was deposited by the river Ganga. From this foetus, Kartikeya was born on the sixth day of the bright half of Margashirsha. Parvati nourished the child by breastfeeding him, and the gods celebrated the birth.^[6] This nurturing and motherly aspect of Parvati came to be called Skandamata. Kartikeya would fulfill his destiny of slaying Taraka, restoring order to the cosmos.^[7]

• Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend (ISBN 0-500-51088-1) by Anna Dhallapiccola