Kumara, the youthful Hindu god of war, is the son of Shiva and Parvati. He is also called Skanda or Karttikeya in northern India and as Subrahmanyam or Murugan in southern India. Although varying origin stories are presented in different textual sources, perhaps the most familiar is that Kumara was born when Shiva and Parvati were interrupted while having sex. This caused Shiva to ejaculate accidentally into a fire. As the god of fire, Agni, was unable to bear the heat of Shiva’s seed, he threw it into a thicket of reeds on the bank of the Ganges River. The embryo was found and nursed by the wives of sages known as the Krittikas (personifications of the Pleiades constellation cluster). He eventually grew into a handsome warrior boy who was destined to destroy the demon Taraka.
Kumara’s primary attribute is his spear, which he holds upright in his right hand. It was made from the Sun by Vishvakarman, the architect and artificer of the gods. In his left hand, he cradles a cock, which symbolizes his bellicose manner of fighting as a young warrior. He has a bow slung over his shoulder and a sword suspended from his sword belt. He wears a cross-hatched coat, perhaps quilted, over a dhoti and his bare feet. He wears a turban, large ear ornaments, and has a nimbus asserting his divinity. Beside him is a diminutive donor figure wearing Scythian garb.
A comparable Gandharan representation of Kumara is in the British Museum, London (1899,0609.6).
