Lord Kartikeya, the son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, is known by different names – Lord Swaminatha, Lord Murugan, Skand and more. His younger brother is Lord Ganesha. There is an interesting story of a competition between two brothers, Lord Ganesha and Lord Kartikeya and how Lord Kartikeya subsequently chose to live in Tamil region. He is also the commander of Devas or Gods.
Birth of Lord Kartikeya ;
There was a demon named Tarakasura who had the boon that he should only be killed by Lord Shiva’s son. This is soon after Sati’s death, and Lord Shiva was very much perturbed by the death of Sati, so Taraka takes it for granted that Shiva would not at all get remarried, and hence, would not have a son to call his own.
It is believed that Lord Kartikeya or Murugan manifested for the sole purpose of killing Tarakasura. Tarakasura knew very well that Lord Shiva was an ascetic and He would not marry or have children. Hence, he would be invincible.
As luck would have, Lord Shiva finally married Goddess Parvati. Lord Shiva took her to a cave and asked her to meditate. As they both meditated, a ball of fire emerged out of their cosmic energies.
In the mean time, the other Gods being insecure from Tarakasura, sent Agni or the God of fire to get hold of the ball of fire. But even Agni couldn’t bear the heat of the energy of Shiva and Parvati. So, He handed over the ball to Goddess Ganga. When even Ganga couldn’t bear the heat, She deposited the fire ball into a lake in a forest of reeds.
Then Goddess Parvati took the form of this water body as She alone could bear the energy of Shiva and Shakti. Finally the fire ball took the form of a baby with six faces. Hence, Kartikeya is also known as Shanmukha or the God with six faces. He was first spotted and taken care of by six women who represented the Pleiades or the Kritikas. So, the divine child was known as Kartikeya or the son of the Kritikas. Later on, he becomes commander-in-chief of the Gods.!! 
Jai Kartikeya ~ Jai Shiva Shankar
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