Life of Karthikeya

The Life of Karthikeya was one of the earliest mythological drawings I’ve ever done. Now that my Karthikeya design has sort of evolved from that original state, I decided to revisit various incidents from event filled life of the God of War, while adding a few more stories.

Karthikeya is supposed to be the General of the Gods and aspects over the ‘Kurinji’ or hilly terrains of a landscape, which is why there are so many hills in the drawing. He is also supposed to be a patron of poetry.

I decided to make one last refinement to his design. His banner/emblem is a Rooster, which is traditionally on a flag. But I decided to put it on a golden shield, much like the Aegis - the legendary greek shield with the face of Medusa on it. I also made some changes to his tiara, making it more jagged and powerful. Also making his first appearance in my drawings is Agni, the fire god. At the bottom of the post is the original image for comparison.

The story begins with the demons getting a boon from Shiva that they can be killed only by his child, knowing that he is a celibate saint. As the demons go about their tyrannical rule, Shiva decides he’s had enough of their nonsense and decides to do something about it.

Here are the major incidents in the newer piece:

- Shiva creates a divine spark from the blazing fires of his third eye. As Shiva’s son, he is called Guha.

- Agni (the fire god) carries the divine spark but drops it in the Ganga because it’s too hot. Agni also claims part parentage in the child, so as Agni’s son he is called Mahasena.

- Ganga carries it through the secluded Shara forest and drops it there in a lotus. As Ganga’s son, he is called Gangeya. And as the son of the Shara forest, he is called Sharavana.

- The spark manifests as a child, nursed by the Krittika maidens (who form the pleidas constellation). As their son, he is called Karthikeya. He is then claimed by Parvati, who names him Kumara.

- Ganesha and Karthikeya have a contest over who gets to keep the Fruit of Knowledge brought by the sage Narada

- Karthikeya loses the contest and goes off to sulk/gain more wisdom as the poet Avvaiyaar beckons him to return to his parents

- Marrying Valli, the princess of the forest tribes, after protecting her from a wild forest elephant (who was secretly his brother Ganesha in disguise)

- Karthikeya imprisons Brahma for not understanding the mysteries of creation and advises his own father on the secrets of the Universe

- Karthikeya tests the poetry skills of Avvaiyaar

- Karthikeya fights the demonic horde of Surapadman/Simhamukha and Tarakasura. Here he fends off the Krauncha hill which is a demon in disguised, a sort of Rock-topus, if you will.

And some of the minor incidents:

- Bhagirata prays to Shiva to release Ganga from the heavens

- The sage Jahnu swallows the Ganga when she threatens to destroy his hermitage but then releases her through his ear when his anger subsides

One of the very first drawings I did related to Indian mythology was one of the Pandavas with Krishna from the Mahabharat (second drawing above). After nearly a year, I went back to the piece and started thinking about how I could improve it and struck upon the idea of drawing each Pandava brother along with their respective divine parent and in some way showing a story from the Mahabharat or just showing the personality of the brother (the first drawing above).

So to the center is Yudhistira being questioned by his father Yamadharmaraja, the God of Death, on the nature of the universe. The spirits of his four brothers are trapped in the flames and can only be released by successfully answering all of the questions.

To its immediate left is Bhima eating all the food meant for Bakasura after having killed the demon, overseen by his father Vayu, the Wind God.

To the right of the center is Arjuna, trying to shoot the eye of a fish by gazing upon its reflection in a pool of water in order to win the hand of Draupadi in marriage, overseen by his father Indra, the Rain God.

To the far left is Nakula, master of horses, overseen by one of the Ashvini twins, God of medicine and herbs.

To the far right is Sahadeva, master of cows, overseen by the other Ashvini twin, God of medicine and herbs.

Based on the Kalyana Saugandhika episode in the Mahabharat.During their exile in the forest, Draupadi smells a wonderful fragrance coming in the breeze and asks Bheema to go find out what’s causing it. On his way to find out, Bheema encounters… — Based on the Kalyana Saugandhika episode in the Mahabharat.
During their exile in the forest, Draupadi smells a wonderful fragrance coming in the breeze and asks Bheema to go find out what’s causing it. On his way to find out, Bheema encounters an old monkey blocking his way outside a banana grove.

“Move your tail so that I may pass,” says the mighty Bheema.
“But I’m too weak and tired, why can’t you just hop over it?” asks the old monkey.
“It’s against my code of honor to hop over someone,” says Bheema.
“Then you’ll have to move my tail yourself,” says the old monkey.
“Ha, I’ll move your puny tail and you as well in one swift move!” Bheema responds.

Bheema tries with all his might but he’s unable to budge the old monkey’s tail. Suddenly humbled and suspecting a divine intervention, he respectfully questions the monkey’s identity. The monkey of course, is Hanuman, technically Bheema’s old brother, since they are both children of the wind god Vayu. Hanuman gives his blessings to Bheema and then counsels him on the dangers ahead and where he can find the sacred flower giving off the wonderful fragrance.

With Hanuman in particular, I’ve always been fascinated with his tail and tried to combine it with celtic knot designs to create both the border for the piece as well as some geometric shapes within the piece. On the outside, the Kalyana Saugandhika flower that Bheema was searching for decorates the borders.