In Hindu mythology, Soorapadam (also known as Soorapadman), was an asura. He was the son of the rishi Kashyapa and an asura princess, Maya, who illusively enchanted Kashyapa into marrying her.
He, and his two other brothers, were said to have received a boon from Lord Shiva that protected him from death in the hands of beings apart from a Being manifested from Lord Shiva Himself. This, he believed would grant him immortality. As such, he began tormenting all the good souls of the universe.
Enraged with his actions, Lord Siva is said to have created Lord Muruga (thus creating a new deity, who would be exempt from the boon) from the flames emanating from his Third Eye on his forehead (symbolizing the eye of wisdom). Receiving the vel (lance) from Lord Siva's consort, Parvathi, Lord Muruga set forward to defeat Soorapadman.
Seeing the arrival of Lord Murugan and anticipating defeat in his hands, Soorapadman sensed that his end was near and decided to run away and transform himself into a tree. Seeing through his petty tricks, Lord Murugan threw his Vel at the tree, thus splitting it. The tree split into two, with one half transforming into a cockerel and the other turning into a peocock. Lord Murugan then ordered the cockerel to embed itself on the flag, thus forming the deity's battle standard. The peocock was ordered to be the vaahan (vehicle) of Lord Murugan.
|
|||||||||||||||||