Wikipedia
Tārakāsur or Tāraka was a powerful asura and the son of Vajranaka in Hindu belief. Tarakasur repeatedly defeated the gods until heaven was on the verge of collapse. Yet he had a clever boon that he could be defeated only by the son of Shiva, who was a complete yogi, given to severe austerities, far from any thoughts of marriage. Eventually, Kamadeva, the god of love, was sent in advance and created an untimely spring around Shiva and broke his dhyana with arrow of lust. On awakening, Shiva's fiery gaze burnt Kamdeva to ashes, and the disembodied spirit of love was disseminated across the universe. However, Parvati who was re-incarnation of Sati, Shiva's first wife and also incarnation of Aadi Shakti who was once a part of Shiva, in their Ardhanarishvara form. Eventually their son Kartikeya was born. Kartikeya killed Tarakasur and his brothers Simhamukhan and Surapadman who eventually became the mounts of Parvati and Kartikeya.