Stories 3
All kinds
Origin
Legend
Local story
Folk tale
From the epics
Festival story
Temple legend
In stone and bronze
How a tradition frames it
Everywhere
Pan-India 95
South India 67
West India 30
East India 22
North India 15
The Himalaya 12
Northeast India 5
Southeast Asia 4
Central India 4
✕ birth
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Tradition: Shaiva · clear
Temple legend · 4 tellings · contested
The birth of Ayyappa
Brahma's boon to Mahishi — that only a child of Vishnu and Shiva can kill her — forces Vishnu to take the Mohini form; Shiva's desire for Mohini yields a son, found and raised by the king of Pandalam, who kills Mahishi and takes his seat at Sabarimala.
Origin · 6 tellings · contested
The birth of Ganesha
Parvati wants a guard of her own and shapes a boy from the paste on her body.
Origin · 4 tellings · contested
The birth of Kartikeya
Taraka can be killed only by a son of Shiva.