A Note on Ṣaṇmukha Kārttikeya

The son of Siva and Parvati, the commander-in-chief of gods' army (Senāni na mahām) is known by various names. One of them is Şaṇmu- kha (six faced); which again refers to circumstantial birth of this god. The story of his birth is mentioned in detall in Vana-Parvan of the Mahabharata and in the Kumārasambhava of

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ललित कुमार षण्मुख कार्त्तिकेय की प्रतिमा-विद्या संकलित करते हैं। विष्णुधर्मोत्तर के विधान को, जिसमें रक्त वस्त्र, मयूर, कुक्कुट, घण्टा, वैजयन्ती पताका और शक्ति हैं, वे समरांगणसूत्रधार के द्वि, षट् अथवा द्वादश भुजाओं के विकल्प के साथ रखते हैं, तथा महाभारत और कुमारसम्भव की जन्मकथा का उल्लेख करते हैं। Lalit Kumar gathers the iconography of the six-faced Kārttikeya. He sets the Viṣṇudharmottara's prescription of red garment, peacock, cock, bell, banner and spear beside the Samarāṅgaṇa Sūtradhāra's two, six or twelve arms, and notes the birth story in the Mahābhārata and the Kumārasambhava.

Written by the archive’s cataloguers, not by the author.