Kartikeya Temple

Karthikeya Temple is a Hindu temple located in Pehowa in the Indian state of Haryana. This temple is completely dedicated to Lord Kartikeya. Karthikeya is the elder son of Lord Shiva. This temple is located at a distance of about 20 km from the holy Kurukshetra. This place is also called the Saraswati pilgrimage place. It is believed that this temple dates back to around the 5th century.

It is believed that on the Pindi of Lord Kartikeya located in the temple, Lord Krishna was oil-anointed on this Pindi by Yudhishthira. Lord Kartikeya has a tradition of consecration with oil. Every year millions of people come to anoint this Pindi with oil.

This temple of Kartikeya is the only temple in the whole of India in which women are completely banned from entering the main womb of the temple. It is said that if a woman sees this Pindi of Lord Kartikeya, she remains a widow for the next seven births. In this temple, not only women but the adoption of newborn girls is also forbidden.

Kartikeya's Pindi was very hot after birth. So the sage munis had anointed oil to give the coolness of Kartikeya's body. Since then, Lord Kartikeya has been enshrined in this form.

History and Legend of Kartikeya Temple

As per the Skanda Purana Lord Shiva wed Sati who was the grand-daughter of Lord Brahma and the daughter of king Daksha. He never liked Lord Shiva. Daksha insulted Lord Shiva during a Yagna ceremony. Hence, Sati immolated herself in anger over the insult of her husband. When Lord Shiva came to know about this incidence, he got angry.

The Yagna was destroyed by the Gana army of Lord Shiva led by Virabhadra. Meanwhile, Demon Taraka believed that his boon of being killed by Lord Shiva's son would give him invincibility as Lord Shiva would not get married again. Hence, devtas manage to get Lord Shiva remarried to Goddess Parvati with the help of The Kama, the God of love who awaken Lord Shiva from his penance, incurring his wrath in the process.

Lord Shiva handed over the radiance of his third eye to Agni, as he believed that Agni alone was able to handle it until it became the desired offspring. Agni, tortured by its heat, handed it over to Goddess Ganga who in turn put it in a lake amidst a forest of reeds. The child was finally born in this forest with six faces. He was first spotted and cared for by six women representing the Pleiades - Kritika. He thus got named Karttikeya. As a young lad, he killed the demon Taraka. Lord Kartikeya is also known as Kumar.

According to another legend, Lord Krishna asked Yudhishthira to light two lamps for the 18 lakh warriors who died in the Mahabharata battle. These lamps flank the temple and it is believed that they have been continuously lit since then.

The temple of Lord Kartikeya stands at the site where Lord Kartikay removed his skin and left it with Goddess Parvati as he doubted that his mother helped Ganesha to complete the Trilok parikrama. After giving up his skin he came to the Pehowa temple and said that no women could enter this temple.