God Skanda of Kataragama, Sri Lanka
Skanda is regarded as the supreme commander of the Gods and the destroyer of evil forces. He is also regarded as the epitome of knowledge. He is revered as an infant, as a child - (Balasubramanian), as a handsome and romantic prince (Valli Manavaalan - Azhagan Murugan), as an invincible warrior - ruler, and also as a mature renunciate. There is a wealth of literature centered around Murugan.
The references to Murugan in Sanskrit literature can thus be traced back to the first millennium BCE. There are references to Subrahmanya in Kautilya's Arthashastra, in the works of Patanjali, in Kalidasa's epic poem the Kumarasambhavam and in the Sanskrit drama Mricchakatika. The Kushanas, who governed from what is today Peshawar, and the Yaudheyas, a republican clan in the Punjab, stuck coins bearing the image of Skanda. The deity was venerated also by the Iskhvakus, an Andhra dynasty, and the Guptas.[4]
The worship of Kumāra was one of the six principal sects of Hinduism at the time of Adi Shankara. The Shanmata system propagated by him included this sect. In many Shiva and Devi temples of Tamil Nadu, Subrahmaṇya is installed on the left of the main deity.
Kataragama, Sri Lanka {Click here}