Skanda is one of the most revered forms of Divinity in the southern state of Tamilnadu. Skanda is known as Murugan - the God of the Tamils, and as Subramanyan, Balasubramanian,   Saravanan, Kumaran, Guhan, Shanmukhan or Aarumugan (the six faced one), Velayudhan and Kartikeyan. The name Murugan is synonymous with the language Tamil and the concept of beauty Azhagu.

There are several temples to Murugan all over the state of Tamilnadu (as in Palani, Tiruchendur etc.) and prominent shrines in Shiva temples (as in Sikkal and Vaideeswaran Koyil) and at least one shrine in all Saivite temples throughout the state.

Prominent shrines to Skanda in the neighboring southern states include Haripad and Udayanapuram in Kerala, Subrahmanya in Karnataka and the modern Skandagiri temple in Secundrabad - Andhra Pradesh.