A to Z Challenge 2026: Theme Reveal

Namaste,

The famous A to Z Challenge is back again, where we make one post per day (except Sundays) for the corresponding alphabet. After retelling the Mahabharata in the Pandava Mahaprasthana series in 2025, I wanted to do something similar yet different this year. It didn’t take much brainstorming, though. I had the topic ready early enough, having read the story sometime in December 2025 (converting the idea into a series took quite many hours, though).

Without much delay, I announce the theme for the A to Z Challenge 2026:

A Retelling of Valli and Karttikeya’s Love Story

While Skanda is considered a brahmachari in some (northern) areas and is the Devasenapati (commander of deva’s army), down South, he has two wives—Devasena and Valli.

In the Mahabharata, we get the story of Skanda’s birth, his coronation, the killing of Tarakasura, and Skanda’s marriage to Devasena (Indra’s adopted daughter).

In Tamil literature, we find the popular literature narrating the love story of Skanda (Murugan) and Valli. It is called Valliyammai Tirumanappasalam and is found in the sixth book of Kantapuranam (in the 24^th canto) by Kacciyappa (said to be composed around 1350 AD). The epic poem has 267 stanzas, depicting the birth of Valli, her meeting with Skanda, their love story, and their wedding.

Since I cannot read Tamil, I used online summaries of the original as the basis for my fictional retelling. There are a few creative inclusions and tweaks for better flow, cohesion, and readability (and modern sensibilities).

The place Tiruttani (previously called Ceruttani) has multiple mentions in this story, and I was blessed to visit the pilgrimage site in February. The ancient temple with its small murtis of Skanda, Devasena, and Valli hummed with divine energy. This A to Z series is dedicated to their lotus feet.

I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Wishing other participants the best of luck for the challenge!

This post is a part of BlogchatterA2Z Challenge 2026.

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I will update this list once every 3 days.

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