Cock flag
{{Short description|Flag of Hindu deity Kartikeya}}
File:Pachaimalai Kalyana Subramanyar pic1.jpgThe Rooster flag ({{Langx|sa|कुक्कुटध्वज|translit=Kukkuṭadhvaja}}, {{Langx|ta|சேவல் கொடி|translit=Céval koți}}) is the flag of the Hindu deity Kartikeya, also rendered Skanda,{{Cite book |last=Bonnefoy |first=Yves |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r4I-FsZCzJEC&dq=skanda+rooster&pg=PA125 |title=Asian Mythologies |date=1993-05-15 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-06456-7 |pages=125 |language=en}} and Murugan in Tamil tradition. The deity Murugan is depicted with the divine spear vel in one hand and the rooster flag in the other in his iconography.{{Cite book |last=Krishna |first=Nanditha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DF_af8_547EC&dq=murugan+rooster+flag&pg=PT271 |title=Sacred Animals of India |date=2014-05-01 |publisher=Penguin UK |isbn=978-81-8475-182-6 |pages=271 |language=en}}
Legend
{{Saivism}}
According to the Kanda Puranam, the deity Murugan is regarded to have battled the asura Surapadman with the divine spear given to him by his mother, Parvati. After Surapadman had assumed the form of a tree, Murugan used his spear to split the asura into two. These halves became a peacock, which Murugan took as his mount, and a rooster, which he adopted as his flag. This legend is celebrated on the occasion of Skanda Shashti.{{Cite book |last=Melton |first=J. Gordon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lD_2J7W_2hQC&dq=murugan+rooster+flag&pg=PA821 |title=Religious Celebrations: An Encyclopedia of Holidays, Festivals, Solemn Observances, and Spiritual Commemorations [2 volumes]: An Encyclopedia of Holidays, Festivals, Solemn Observances, and Spiritual Commemorations |date=2011-09-13 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-59884-206-7 |pages=821 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last1=Jackson |first1=Chris |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RSnJAAAAQBAJ&dq=skanda+rooster+flag&pg=PT153 |title=Driven by the Divine: A Seven-Year Journey with Shivalinga Swamy and Vinnuacharya |last2=Kozlowski |first2=Frances |date=2013-08-21 |publisher=BalboaPress |isbn=978-1-4525-7893-4 |pages=153 |language=en}}
In the Mahabharata, the rooster is offered as the emblem of Skanda by Agni before his battle with Tarakasura.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=af1qFbouaVMC&dq=skanda+Rooster+emblem&pg=PA396 |title=The Mahabharata: Volume 3 |date=July 2012 |publisher=Penguin Books India |isbn=978-0-14-310015-7 |pages=396 |language=en}}
See also
{{Kaumaram}}