Kaartika
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Kaarthika (Hindi: कातिक kaatik or कार्तिक kaartik, Bangla: কার্ত্তিক Kartik), is a month of the Hindu and Bengali calendars. In India's national civil calendar, Kaartika is the eighth month of the year, beginning on 23 October and ending on 21 November. In the Bikram Sambat in use in Nepal, Kartik is the seventh month, beginning on 18 October and lasting until 15 November.
In lunar religious calendars, Kaartik may begin on either the new moon or the full moon around the same time of year, and is usually the eighth month of the year. However, in Gujarat, the year begins on Divali, so Kaartik is the first month of the year for Gujaratis.
In solar religious calendars, Kaartik begins with the Sun's entry into Libra, and is usually the seventh month of the year.
[edit] Kartikeya
Kartikeya is a name given to a Hindu boy, aka Kartik Sreepada, that is short for the hindu god of war(in fact, "Kartikey" was the chief of the heaven's army), Karthikeyan (spelled differently around the world). It is pronounced "Karthik" however it is spelled Kartik in Bengali and Tamil.
Kartikey (or Kartikeya) is also the younger brother of Lord Ganesha and the son of Shiva and Parvati, in the Hindu mythology. He used a peacock as his mode of transport. This six-faced lord was created to destroy all evil. They say his peacock had a task of destroying all serpents — which implies all evil — from this world.
There is a very popular story where Shiva and Parvati (parents of Ganesha and Kartik) asked their children to take a "world tour" as quickly as possible. Kartik used his peacock and toured the whole globe in a jiffy. On the other hand, the younger and wiser brother Ganesha just made a circle around his parents, indicating that his parents were the world to him. Kartikeya is 'Muruga'.
