The greatest of all Suras and Asuras, Surapadman is intent on changing the rules of Creation and only one person can challenge his might. Born in the crib of flame in his father’s third eye, son of Shiva and Parvathi, Lord Murugan it is. And Kala Krishnan’s Murugan trilogy is his story, one where he is the fountainhead, the omniscient cause and effect. Hail him as Skanda, Kumara, Arumugam, Subramanhya, Dandayudhapani or Karthikeya, he is the God of Tamizh, God of Kurinji (the flower that blooms once in twelve years in the hill terrain).
Mahasena begins with the birth of Murugan and ends at the battlefield in Chendur where he gears to fight Surapadman. Detailing the birth of Tamizh, a language that sprouted from little Murugan’s gibberish, one he taught sage Agastya (Akkatiyan) and one he ardently patronized, this book also works like Murugan’s coming-of-age story. A blissful childhood spent in the lap of nature, with tender love showered by six mothers, the Krittikas, ends with Murugan’s reluctant return to Kailash to be with his birth parents Shiva and Parvathi who remained busy with the business of Creation. From a wide-eyed boy listening in wonder to stories told by his elder brother Ganesha,