The कामदेव is the Hindu god of love. In Hindu art he is depicted as a young man wielding a bow and arrow. The bow is made of sugarcane and attracts honeybees, while the arrows are decorated with flowers. The various symbols associated with कामदेव are the spring season, bees, parrots, and cuckoo birds. In Hindu legends, कामदेव weds रति, who is depicted with a lotus flower.

A famous story involving कामदेव is actually about his death. शिव, a major Hindu god, became a hermit and abandoned the affairs of the world. शिव (pictured left), lost interest in life after his wife  सती had died. In an attempt to break शिव out of his trance, the young maiden पार्वती employed  कामदेव to strike शिव with the arrows of love. Unfortunately, शिव was not amused. He incinerated कामदेव and the god of love died on the spot.

The earth soon became barren and lifeless. पार्वती (pictured left), managed to get शिव to marry her and she pleaded शिव to bring the god of love back from the dead. From then on the world was full of lush flowers and buzzing bees (which is why the god of love is depicted with flowers and bees). As a result, कामदेव is not only about love itself, but of life as well.

As a side note, सती, who is the first wife of शिव, is also a goddess that Hindu women worship. सती is the goddess of marital bliss. Hindu women pray to this goddess for the long and healthy life of their husbands. In the stories involving सती, an argument ensures between सती and her father. The father of सती was displeased about the choice of शिव as a husband for his daughter सती. Consumed with rage and saddness, सती burned herself alive. The name सती is also named after a practice in which Indian widows burn themselves alive to follow their husbands to the afterworld.