Shashti Devi Devasena

Shashti Devi is not just the protector of children, She is also very fond of them In several of Her iconographies, She is shown spending time with children, making them happy The below image shows Shashti playing with kids, while Skanda fondly looks on Other deities too bless children, yet Shashti takes special care to ensure that their wishes are fulfilled Jai Shashti Mata🙏

Musukunda Chakravarthy is considered to be one of the 12 Murugan Adiyars° He holds the distinction of having witnessed Sri Murugan-Devasena wedding His backstory is an interesting one Once Lord Shiva and Devi Parvati were resting under a Bilva tree An old monkey on the tree started plucking & putting Bilva leaves on Them Lord Shiva accepted this as Bilva archana and blessed the monkey with wisdom He also ordained it to be born as a king in its next birth However the monkey wished to continue its new found devotion towards Lord Shiva It then requested Lord Shiva that it be born with a monkey-face in its next birth, so as to not forget Shiva Bhakti Since the king was born with a monkey-face, he was named Musukunda (Musu - monkey in Tamil) Musukunda Chakravarthy was also a friend☆ of Lord Indra Lord Indra invited him to His daughter Devasena's wedding where he was treated as a guest of honour King Musukunda witnessing Murugan-Devasena wedding (One can see the delight on his face o...

Lord Skanda & Sri Devasena enjoyed extensive worship in ancient Bharatvarsh Several clans, kingdoms worshipped them as tutelary deities (Kul Devta) Their worship was popular among the general populace too Following are some architectural references of ancient Kaumara worship in various states a) Odisha: Here, Skanda-Devasena were primarily worshipped as Parshwa Devtas One or more shrines were allotted to them in the outer walls of the temple i) Bhadreswar Temple, Cuttack: This shrine dates to approx. 10 C.E. Here, Lord Skanda is depicted as 4-armed and as holding a bow and arrow His upper left hand holds a serpent, & His lower right hand portrays Varada mudra Goddess Devasena stands beside Him, beautifully ornamented Her left hand is placed over Her thigh, and Her right hand portrays a mudra A peacock & a figurine are seen beside Lord Skanda A striking feature is the exquisitely carved head gear of the Lord The shrine still witnesses worship, rice & coconuts are offered...