Hindu Mythology: Kamadeva is the Hindu god of love and he is represented as a handsome, winged young man who wields a bow and arrow. Legend has it that the bow is made of sugarcane with a string of honeybees, while his arrows are said to be decorated with five different kinds of flowers. Kamadeva is accompanied by a cuckoo, a parrot, humming bees, the spring season and a soft and tender breeze. According to legend, Kamadeva is the son of Brahma, however there are other tales stating that he was also once reincarnated as Pradyumna, the son of Lord Krishna and his Queen, Rukmini. In literature like the Kumârasâmbhavam, Kamadeva, also known as Kandarpa, resolved to help Parvati in her efforts to gain the favor of Lord Shiva.
In order to do this he shot his arrows of love at Shiva while the god was deep in meditation. The idea being that Shiva's meditation may be interrupted and his eye would fall on Parvati. However, the ploy backfired, with dreadful consequences. Shiva was temporarily distracted, but when he realised what had happened, he was furious. Opening his dreaded third eye, he annihilated Kamadeva and with just one glance, reduced his body to ashes.
Now, with Kamadeva's destruction, the world became barren and infertile, for he had been the god of desire and love. Shiva and Parvati went on to get married. But when Parvati and the other gods including Rati, Kamdeva's wife pleaded with Shiva to resurrect Kamadeva, Shiva relented. He brought Kamadeva to ‘life' thereby restoring the fertile cycles of nature. However, Kamadeva was resurrected purely as a mental image, so that he represented the emotional and mental state of love, rather than pure physical lust.
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