Sons of Lord Shiva
Ganesh - Ganesh is the God who removes all sorrows. He is the son of Shiva and Parvati and is also known as Ganapati(Leader of Shiva Ganas). He is portrayed as a chubby human with head of an elephant. He has four arms holding an axe to destroy ignorance, a book and the fruit of knowledge.
Lord Ganesh is broadly worshipped in India and people still today pray to him before conducting any auspicious ceremonies. Some believe that Ganesh is a Brahmachari who refused to marry by postponing his marriage every day. However, Padmapurana states that Ganesh is married to Siddhi and Buddhi. Siddhi means skill and Buddhi means intelligence.
Ganesh wrote the epic Mahabharat while Veda Vyasa dictated it. It is no wonder that an epic such as Mahabharat would definitely need a God to write. Ganesh told Veda Vyasa to dictate Mahabharat continuously without a pause not to create a chance for Ganesh to hold the pen still, unless he would stop writing. Yet, they finished writing Mahabharat after three years of continuous writing.
Karthikeya- Kartikeya is referred to as the God of War. He is the son of Shiva and Parvati born to slay the Asura Tarak and his followers. Kartik is most popular and widely worshipped in South India and is known by names Murugan, Subramaniom, Senthil etc. He is depicted as a teenager with a spear and mounted on a peacock.
Just like Ganesh, some consider Kartik as unmarried God while some texts reveal that he is married to Valli and Devaiyani(daughter of Indra).
Sastav/Ayyappa - Sastav is one of the powerful Gods of the Hindu Pantheon. This is because he was born from Shiva and Vishnu (as Mohini). Sastav is nowadays known as Ayyappa. This is because the local God of Kerala Ayyappa and God of Tamil Nadu Aiyannar are more than similar to Sastav and is considered one. It is believed that Parasuram taught Ayyappa martial arts. He is depicted as a teenager sitting cross-legged with a belt tied between his legs.
Andhaka – Andhaka is one of the sons of Lord Shiva. However, he was raised by the Asura Hiranyaksha after he was given to him by Shiva subsequent to Hiranyaksha’s prayer to have a child. Andhaka literally means ‘the blind one’. He was killed by Shiva himself after he tried to rape Parvati.
Bhauma – Bhauma mean ‘Son of Bhumi’(Earth). He was born after the sweat of Lord Shiva fell onto the surface of earth. Shiva was in deep meditating at that time that Bhumi Devi raised the kid as her own. After realising this Shiva became happy and named the child in honour of Bhumi herself. Bhauma has red skin and has four hands.
Khuja - The powerful ray of energy emitted from the chest of Lord Shiva during his meditation stroke the surface of earth (Bhumi Devi). This lead to the birth of Khuja. Khuja is the Lord of Iron in earth. He later departed from earth and exist in space. He is the planet Mars.
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