Skanda

In the Hindu Shaivite corpus Skanda is described as the son of Śiva and Pārvatī and is the central figure named in the Skanda Purāṇa, one of the largest Mukhyapurāṇas (the Purāṇa is explicitly titled after him). Regional cults in southern India identify this divine son with local forms such as Murugan, Kartikeya, and Subramanya; temple literature and summaries emphasize his primacy as a martial deity and focal object of devotion, especially in Tamilnādu. In Mahāyāna Buddhist reception the figure appears under Chinese names (塞建陀 / 室建陀) and as Weituo (韋馱) or Japanese Idaten (韋駄天), where he is assimilated as a protector of monasteries and the Buddhist teaching (Dharma).

Sources characterize Skanda in functional and cultic terms rather than provide exhaustive iconographic manuals in the supplied excerpts. Temple-oriented material from South India eulogizes him as "the ultimate warrior," and regional worship of Murugan/Kartikeya/Subramanya implies traditional martial iconography in temple practice. In East Asian Buddhist contexts Skanda appears in monastic guardian imagery under the names Weituo and Idaten; the Buddhist entry explicitly identifies him as a devoted monastery guardian, which corresponds to attendant guardian depictions found in Buddhist institutional art (as reported in the sources). The supplied texts do not furnish step-by-step iconographic prescriptions but consistently associate him with youthful, martial guardian imagery in both Hindu (war-god) and Buddhist (monastery guardian) registers.

In Hindu sources and summaries Skanda is presented primarily as a war-god and 'ultimate warrior,' a martial divine agent celebrated in Shaivite narrative and cult (the Skanda Purāṇa centers on him). In East Asian Mahāyāna Buddhism Skanda/Weituo/Idaten functions as a devoted guardian of Buddhist monasteries and protector of the Dharma. Across the cited materials his roles are protective and martial rather than malevolent: cultic worship (including festivals such as Skanda Sashti) and textual prominence in the Skanda Purāṇa underpin these attributed functions.