Ha Tinh Provincial Museum is preparing to move the precious Skanda statue from the Phong Phan Pagoda in Nghi Xuan district to be on display at the museum, said its Vice Director on March 2.

The Skanda, originally named Murugan (God of War), is a popular Hindu deity among Tamil Hindus, and is worshipped primarily in areas with Tamil influence, especially South India, Sri Lanka , Malaysia, and Mauritius.

Like most Hindu deities, He is known by many other names, including Senthil, Saravaa, Kārttikeya (’Son of Krittika’ ), Arumugam or Shanmukha (’One with Six Faces’), Kumāra (’son’), Guha, Skanda (roughly ’that which is spilled or oozed, namely seed’ in Sanskrit), Subrahmaya, Vēla and Swaminatha.

The statue is located at Phong Phan Pagoda and is believed to date back to the ancient Champa culture, 10th -12th Century.

The statue is made from gray soft sandstone.

VietNamNet/SGGP