Manikanta is the son of Shiva, so that makes him half-brother to Lord Ganesha and Lord Murugan. According to legend, there once was a kingdom of Pandalam where Manikanta originated. The royal family was childless. One day the king of Pandalam found a baby boy in a forest. The king adopted the baby and named him
Manikanta. (Sanskrit for precious stone and kanta, Sanskrit for neck.)
At age 12, the king wanted to formally invest Manikanta as the heir prince (yuvraja). However, the queen under the influence of an evil minister objected. The minister had advised the queen that only her younger biological child should be the next king. The minister persuaded the queen to feign an illness, ask for "tiger's milk" to cure her illness and demand that Manikanta be sent to get the milk from the forest. Manikanta volunteers, goes into the forest, and returns riding a tigress. The king, realising Manikanta special ability recognizes the adopted son to be a divine being, resolves to make a shrine for him.
His iconography depicts him as a handsome celibate, teenage boy with a bell around his neck and riding a tigress. Weapons associated with him are a bow and arrow and sword.
