Sashti Vrata falls on May 31, 2017, Wednesday.

Sashti is the special day for the worship of Lord Muruga and those who observe vrat on this day reap tons of benefits and get relieved of their sins.

Let us see the unique qualities of Muruga that make Him one of the favourite Gods for many devotees.

  Muruga is a warrior God. He has great fighting skills and in fact has been created by his father to conquer Surapadma, Tarakasuran and Singamugan (the mighty asuras).

  Muruga is a Tamil God. He has been considered as the fountainhead of all three branches of Tamil Literature (Prose, Poetry and Drama) and has been hailed high by ancient poets like Nakirar and Avaiyaar.

 Muruga is the Lord of Wisdom and is the destroyer of ego in us. The rooster in his flag signifies this quality of Muruga.

  ‘Murugu’ means beauty and youthfulness in Tamil. Muruga is known for his handsome appearance.

There are many interesting anecdotes related to Lord Muruga. We know the story of Muruga’s birth and marriage with Valli and Deivayani.

One more interesting story is about the fruit Mango for which he competed with Lord Vinayakar. The competition was that whoever could come around the world first would get the mango, the fruit of wisdom from the father. When Muruga started on his peacock to come around the world, Vinayakar came around the parents, declared that his parents were his world and won the fruit. The angry Muruga went to Palani and took the posture of Dhandayuthapani there.

Let us pray to Lord Muruga on Sashti to seek His blessings and live happily in life.