account for the large number of devotees he claims among the non-Brahman classes of Southern India. Like the other Saiva attendants described above, who partake of the nature of Siva and are made of his substance, Skanda is also one of the leaders of the Saivite hosts (ganas). He is a guardian

deity and is enshrined in almost every Siva temple of importance in Southern India. He is par excellence the god of youth, of energy and virility.