At one point, the latter were defeated several times by the former. This festival was (according to one tradition) said to have been supposedly created during one of the battles between the Asuras (or to be more specific Soorapadman) and the Devas. It is also commonly believed that Thaipusam marks Murugan's birthday though some other sources suggest that Vaikhasi Vishakam, which falls in the Vaikhasi month (May/June), is Murugan's birthday. The festival commemorates the occasion when Parvati gave Murugan (aka Kartikeya) a Vel 'spear' so he could vanquish the evil demon Soorapadman and his brothers. This particular star is at its highest point during the festival. The word Thaipusam is a combination of the name of the month, Thai, and the name of a star, Pusam (Tamil word for Pushya Malayalam word - Pooyam). In certain states of Malaysia and in the nations of Sri Lanka and Mauritius, it is also a government and a bank holiday.

In India Tamil Nadu state is declared for holiday. It is a national holiday in many countries such as Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Mauritius. It is mainly observed in countries where there is a significant presence of Tamil community such as India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Mauritius, as well as other places where ethnic Tamils reside as a part of the local Indian diaspora population such as Canada, Singapore, South Africa, the United States, Réunion, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, Jamaica and the other parts of the Caribbean.

The festival is also observed among Keralites and is vernacularly called Thaipooyam ( Malayalam: തൈപ്പൂയം). Thaipusam or Thaipoosam ( Tamil: தைப்பூசம், Taippūcam ?), is a festival celebrated by the Tamil Hindu community on the full moon in the Tamil month of Thai (January/February), usually coinciding with Pushya star, known as Poosam in Tamil or Pooyam in Malayalam. The festival commemorates the occasion when Parvati gave Murugan (aka Kartikeya) a Vel Hindu Tamils, Hindu Malayalis, Hindu Tamil Sri Lankans, Hindu Tamil Malaysians, Hindu Tamil Singaporeans, Hindu Tamil Indonesians, Hindu Tamil Caribbeans, Hindu Tamil Fijians, and Hindu Tamil Mauritians

Concord shiva murugan temple