Tawus Malik(طاووس ملك), if translated directly from Arabic means King Peacock or Peacock King. In Yezidism, he is the main divinity or the emanation of The One True God. The highest of the 7 Archangels of God along with Jabra'il, Mika'il, Rafa'il (Israfil), Dadra'il, Azrail and Shamkil (Shemna'il). He is also known as Azazel(Hebrew: עֲזָאזֵל; Arabic: عزازيل, translit. ʿAzāzīl).
I was reminiscing my visit to Batu Caves on Thaipusam and how important was the peacock. One of the offerings besides milk, scented oil, sugar cane and flowers was peacock feathers. Statues and depiction of peacock was almost everywhere.
Peacock or Mayura (Sanskrit: मयूर Mayūra) is one of the most sacred animal in Hinduism. Legend states that the Mayura was created from the feathers of Garuda, the vehicle mount (vahana) of the Hindu god Vishnu. Lakshmi, the consort of Vishnu, is the goddess of prosperity, luck and beauty; she is symbolized by the mayura. Most importantly (in relation to my visit to Batu Caves) as Pavani, the mount of Lord Murugan for which The Batu Caves Temple was dedicated to.
Lord Murugan also known as Kartikeya is the son of Lord Shiva and the brother of Lord Ganesh. He is also known as Subramanyam the God of War, was famous for defeating the demon Surapadman and Tarakasur.
The defeat of Surapadman was the origin story for his peacock mount, Pavani. Which after defeated by Murugan asking for pardon and was granted the honour of becoming his vahana, the peacock. In another story, Murugan ripping the demon’s body in two — carving out of it a peacock on which he flew. While the demon Tarakasur was made into a rooster which end up as one of Murugan’s emblem. So besides his Vel (spear), the peacock and rooster were associated to the Lord.
Thus, why we heard the chanting of, “Vel,vel,vel…..”, countless of times during Thaipusam procession of the Kavadi. Not to forget the offering of peacock feathers and the few domesticated rooster inside the Temple of Batu Caves.
I have reached the limit of Instagram's caption. I have more to share, but thank you for reading.
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