Ganga vs Kartikeya

The sacred river Ganges as a goddess, who descended from heaven to purify the ashes of King Sagara's sons and was caught in Shiva's matted hair to break the force of her fall. Bathing in her waters and immersing ashes in them are among the most important acts of Hindu devotion.

The Ramayana makes Ganga the elder daughter of Himavat and Mena and sister of Uma. Given to the gods, she flowed in heaven until King Bhagiratha's austerities brought her down to earth, broken in her fall by Shiva's hair, to purify the ashes of Sagara's sons.

The *Ramayana* makes Ganga the elder daughter of Himavat, lord of mountains, and sister of Uma (Parvati). The gods asked for her and took her to heaven, where she flowed as the celestial river.

The god of war and commander of the gods' army, son of Shiva, born to destroy the demon Taraka. Raised by the six Krittikas (the Pleiades), he is often shown with six faces; in the Tamil south he is worshipped as Murugan, one of the most beloved gods of the region.

Born to end the demon Taraka, Kartikeya arose from the seed of Shiva, carried by Agni and the river Ganga, and was nursed by the six Krittikas. Parvati accepted him as her son, and the gods made him general of their army.

The gods, oppressed by the demon Taraka, learned that only a son of Shiva could destroy him. Tellings of the birth vary widely across the *Mahabharata*, the *Ramayana*, the Puranas, and Kalidasa's poem *Kumarasambhava*: Shiva's fiery seed passes through Agni and the river Ganga before the child is born in a bed of reeds and nursed by the six Krittikas, the stars of the Pleiades. From them he takes the name Kartikeya, and from nursing all six at once, his six faces.