Kamakshi Amman Temple, Kanchi Puram

The temple is located in the religious city of Kanchipuram, which is near Chennai in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. Among the historical Hindu temples in India, Shri Kanchi Kamakshi Amman Temple or also considered Kamakshi Amman is dedicated to the goddess of Kanchi Kamakshi Amman. This divine temple is one amongst the 51 Shakti Peethas of the Goddess Sati throughout the nation.

Kamakshi Devi is a supreme form of Deity Lalitha Maha Tripurasundari, who is a manifestation of Goddess Parvati. The name comes from the words ‘Ka’ which shows Goddess Saraswati (God of Education And Learning), ‘Ma’ which means Deity Lakshmi (God of Riches), and ‘Aksh’ shows grateful eyes. On the entire, the name represents the Goddess who stays in Kanchi and possesses Saraswati and Lakshmi as her 2 eyes.

History

According to Shiv Puran, this temple is among 51 Shakti Peeths. Lord Vishnu divided the body into 51 parts utilizing his Sudarshan chakra. Out of those 51 parts, from which the ‘Navel’ of Sati fell to this place.

The Kamakshi Amman temple has been around from time immemorial, going as way back as the 7th century. It was created under the sign of the adored Indian guru Adi Shankaracharya, whose trainings are followed by the devotees of the Deity to date. The Pallava kings who ruled the lands in that age most likely constructed the temple, with the Chola and Vijaynagar kings later on expanding by including smaller-sized temples around the primary temple. This temple of Kamakshi is among the 3 significant locations of praise for the Deity Shakti, the other 2 being Madura Meenakshi in Madurai and Kasi Visalakshi in Varanasi.

The history exposes that Deity Kamakshi prayed while basing on one foot on a needlepoint to get married. She was wishing under a mango tree with a Shiva lingam made from sand to get married to the ideal Lord Shiva. After a long time period of faithful and dedicated meditation to Lord Shiva, Lord Shiva appeared and got married to the Goddess Kamakshi, a magnificent form of Parvati in the month of Phalgun in the Uttara Nakshatra. There are no conventional Parvati or Shakti temples in the city of Kanchipuram, in addition to this temple, which includes a lot more legends to this temple.

Importance

Devotees came to this temple to get rid of Thirumana Dhosam, and Puthira Dosham and to achieve success in their business.

Devotees visit this temple to seek fulfillment of the following:-

• To be blessed with children
• For wealth and prosperity

Main Devotees

• In historical times, the Maharaja of Ayodhya, King Dasharatha, performed ‘Putra Kameshti Yagam’ inside the temple premises to have a kid for his kingdom. He performed the ritual at the Nabisthanam of the deity and got kids after a couple of months. It is also strongly believed that Deity Kamakshi is a prime deity of the Ikshvaku Vamsam dynasty to which King Dasharatha belongs. The extraction of this story appears in Markandeya Puranam, and the faith evolved that if the deity is hoped with greatest worship, then she blesses childless partners with the kid.
• Long ago, Saint Adi Shankara, who was born at Kaladi in Kerala, went to Kanchipuram as he had explored all over all parts of the nation. Upon his visit, the whole sanctum was really hot, and he really felt that the goddess was in her relentless mode. In order to bring her into the usual state, Adi Shankara began applauding her with his tunes called “Saundarya Lahari” and set up a Sri Chakra in front of her idol to keep her calm and personified. That is why she was in the beginning extremely furious and was depicted as Ugra Swaroopini however later on became Shanta Swaroopini at the request of Adi Shankara. The established Sri Chakra is also considered Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham, and the Jagad Guru reached the Sarvagyna Peetham in this religious city.
• A long period of time back, there was a devotee identified as ‘Mookan’ who was silent and went to the holy temple and offered worship to the deity for the speech. The deity was amazed and blessed him with speech and intellect to make poems. He was really satisfied and created around 500 poems praising the goddess for her charm and elegance; these poems are called “Mookapanchasathi.”.

Architecture

Spreading out throughout a location of 5 acres, the temple houses the Pond and Gaja Shed. The temple has 4 entryways: the primary entryway of the temple has the Mahishasura Mardini deity on the right and a Kala Bhairava deity on it. There is a large Dwajasthampa in the center of the entryway, followed by the Vinayaga deity. Goddess Kamakshi is in a Padmasana position, moving in a straight line even more. The temple houses the Gayatri Mandapam, where the idol of the goddess is placed posture along with the trinity of Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma. There are smaller-sized temples of Bangaru Kamakshi, Adi Shankara, and Maha Saraswati around the sanctum. The temple sanctum includes Varahi, Arupa Lakshmi Kalva Perumal (among the 108 Vaishnavite deity worship temples), Roopalakshmi, and Arthanareeswarar gods surrounding the Gayatri Mandapam.

There is Santhanasthampam, the Nabisthanam of the Goddess inside the prakaram. There is a Sri Chakra Yantra (Sri Kamakoti Peetam) created by Saint Sri Adi Shankaracharya in front of the Goddess deity. Kamakshi temple has a close connection with the Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham and its succeeding Shankaracharya. The temple has a gallery that shows the biography of Adi Shankaracharya inside the temple premises. The temple is also represented as “Nabisthana Ottiyana Peetam.” It also has a golden Gopuram on the sanctum of the Goddess Kamakshi goddess, which can be viewed by all the devotees.

Idol

The Idol Kamakshi is seated in a Padmasana (a yogic position), which represents success and calmness and is similar to the lotus. The Idol holds a sugarcane bow in her left lower arm and a lot of lotus flowers in her right lower arm with a parrot set down near the flower lot. She also has spiritual chakras, pasha (lasso), and an Ankusha (goad) in her upper 2 arms. A Chandraperai (a form of the moon-like design) is positioned near her forehead, and she is constantly well adorned in gorgeous rich saris with the entire shringara.

Kamakshi as Lalitha Maha Tripura Sundari

Sri Lalita Parabhattarika seated over the Kamakoshtha in five forms:

Shri Kamakshi Para Bhattarika:

As discussed earlier, Shri Kamakshi is seated in the center of the inner sanctum Known as Gayatri Mandapam. Shri Kamakshi is the Mula devata of the Kamakoti peetha.

Shri Vidya Parameshvari, who forms the inner spirit of the prakata Gayatri and that is why known as rahasya Gayatri, is enshrined at the center of the Gayatri mandapam in the form of Shri Kamakshi. She is placed on Pancha brahmasana, and Paramba is seated in yoni asana facing southeast.

The Shri vigraha of Paramba has been explained in three forms: sthula (Dhyana yogya, Savayava), Sukshma (mantra and yantra maka) and Karana as well as Vasanatmaka.One can see the bila dvara leading to bilakasha in front of the tapomagna Kamakshi sannidhi inner side the garbhagriha.

The forms of Vashinyadi Vak Devatas are existed around the Srichakra in the same posture as in Shripura. The idols dedicated to Hayagriva and Agastya are located in the third prakara of the temple, at the location where the teaching of Lalita Trishati was given.

Tapah Kamakshi:

This form of paramba is placed on the right of the mula devata and close to the bila dvara. Uma, after the separation from Mahadeva, is shown first as Annapurna in Kashi. Following the advice of sage Katyayana, she worshipped Ekambaranatha under the mango tree in Rudrakoshtha and married him.

Anjana Kamakshi:

The temple of Anjana is on the left of the Mula devata, facing the north position in facing of the Saubhagya Ganapati. She is also considered as Arupa Lakshmi. According to past, Rama has performed a penance to restore her lost charm at this location, which is why kumkuma offerings of Mula devata are presented to her. While she represents Rama in her form as Rama-bija, she represents Kamakshi in the look of Kamakalakshara, which is inherent in the Rama-bija.

Svarna Kamakshi:

Created in the 2nd prakara, the temple of Svarna deity is called Banagru Kamakshi It is believed that this form was created by Shrividya Parameshvari from her 3rd eye to work as the Shakti of ekambaranatha called ekambika. The original idol that has emerged from the third-eye of paramba which used to be a picture of Kamakshi in Gold in standing position is moved Thanjavur. It was performed in order to secure the idol from Muslim attacks by Kamakshidasa, an ancestor of Shri Shyama Shastrigal. The picture is still there in Thanjavur.

Utsava Kamakshi:

Located in the 2nd prakara, the idol of Utsava Kamakshi is taken out during processions. The deity is come with on either side by idols of Rama and Sharada. In most cases, the devatas are usually accompanied by their male/female companions, however here, Kamakshi being Shiva-shakti Mika, there is no temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. Sri Lalithambika, who emerged from Chidagni for the damage of Bhandasura, was presented to the entire world by Brahma with a special name called ‘Sri Kamakshi.’ ‘Kamakshi’ is the unique name of the ancient Parashakti Sri Lalita. She is known as ‘Sri Lalita’ as she brings happiness to the mind of Sri Kameshwara.

Festivals

The spring season takes the yearly festival in the Tamil month of Masi in the months from mid-February to mid-March. The chariot festival (Ther) and sail festival (Theppam) are arranged during this time. Navaratri, Aadi Aippasi Pooram, and Vasanta Utsavam are other festivals that fall in the Tamil month of Vaikasi. Apart from this, all Fridays are believed spiritual, and the Fridays in the Tamil months of Adi (mid-July to mid-August) and Thai (mid-January to mid-February) are enjoyed with full happiness. Brahmotsavam and Pournami (Full Moon Moment) are other significant celebrations.

Nearby Temples

• Sri Varadharaja Perumal Temple
• Sri Ulagalanda Perumal Temple
• Sri Kumarakottam Temple
• Sri Kailasanathar Temple
• Sri Kachabeswarar Temple
• Devarajaswami Temple
• Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam
• Ekambaranathar Temple
• Vaikunda Perumal Temple
• Jain Temple, Kanchipuram
• Eri Katha Ramar Temple

How to Reach

• By Air: Chennai International Airport is the nearby airport and it is around 60 km from the temple.
• By Train: The nearby Railway Station is the Kanchipuram Railway Station and is around 1 km from the temple.
• By Road: Kanchipuram is well-connected with a network of roads. Regular bus services are available from Chennai (70km), Tirupati (110 km), Pondicherry (124 km), and Tiruchchirappalli (279 km).

Temple Timings

Darshan Timing

Morning Timing	Evening Timing
5:30 AM To 12:15 PM	4:00 PM To 8:15 PM

Aarti, Bhog and Pooja Timing

• Abhishekam

The Abhishekam Aarti takes place thrice a day:

Early Morning	5:30 AM
Morning	10:30 AM
Evening	4:00 PM

• Ashtotthara Archana

It happens twice a day:

Morning	7 AM to 12 Noon
Evening	6 PM to 8 PM

• Chandana Alankara

It takes place every Wednesday and Saturday at 4:30 p.m.

Wednesday and Saturday

4:30 PM

• Navavarana Pooja on Pournami

It takes place after 9:30 p.m. on a full moon day every month.

• Sahasranaama Archana

This aarti takes place twice a day:

Morning	9 AM to 10 AM
Evening	7 PM to 8 PM

During the aartis, the devotees should wear traditional dress while entering the Gayatri Mandapam.

Temple Video

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