Kamakshi Amman Temple

Kamakshi Temple
The Kamakshi Amman temple has gopurams with gold overlays.
Name
Proper name	Kamakshi Amman Temple
Tamil	காமாக்‌ஷி (காமாட்சி) அம்மன் கோவில்.
Geography
Coordinates	12°50′26″N 79°42′12″E / 12.840684°N 79.703238°E / 12.840684; 79.703238Coordinates: 12°50′26″N 79°42′12″E / 12.840684°N 79.703238°E / 12.840684; 79.703238
Country	India
State	Tamil Nadu
District	KANCHIPURAM
Location	Kanchipuram Town
Culture
Primary deity	Kamakshi (Parvati)
Architecture
Architectural styles	Dravidian architecture
History and governance
Creator	Pallava kings

The Kamakshi Temple (Tamil:அருள்மிகு காமாட்சி அம்மன் திருகோயில்) is an ancient Hindu Temple dedicated to Kamakshi, one of the forms of Goddess. It is located in the historic city of Kanchipuram, near Chennai, India The Meenakshi Temple in Madurai, the Akilandeswari temple in Thiruvanaikaval near Tiruchirappalli and this Kamakshi are the important centers of worship of Goddess, in the state of Tamil Nadu. The Temple was most probably built by the Pallava kings, whose capital was Kanchipuram.

The Image of the main Deity, Kamakshi, is seated in a majestic Padmasana, an yogic posture signifying peace and prosperity, instead of the traditional standing pose. Goddess holds a sugarcane bow and bunch of flowers in the lower two of her arms and has a pasha (lasso), an ankusha (goad) in her upper two arms. There is also a parrot perched near the flower bunch. There are no other Parvati temples in the city of Kanchipuram, apart from this temple, which is unusual in a traditional city that has hundreds of traditional temples. There are various legends that account for this fact. One of them according to Kamakshivilasa is that Goddess had to absorb all the other shakthi forms to give a boon to Kama, the Vedic angel of desire. Another legend attributes it to the Raja Rajeswari pose of the deity that signifies an absolute control over the land under Her control. Legend has it that Kamakshi offered worship to a Shivalingam made out of sand, under a mango tree and gained Shiva's hand in marriage.

Adi Shankaracharya, the famous 8th century CE scholar and saint, re-established the Sri Chakra in this Kamakshi Devi temple in the trough-like structure in that shrine.

Four worship services are offered each day. The annual festival falls in Spring, in the Tamil month of Masi, which runs from mid-March to mid-April. During this time the chariot festival (Ther) and float festival, (Theppam) are held. Other festivals include Navaratri, Aadi and Aippasi Pooram, Sankara Jayanthi and Vasanta Utsavam in the Tamil month of Vaikasi. All Fridays are considered sacred, though the Fridays in the Tamil months of Adi (mid-July to mid-August) and Thai (mid-January to mid-February) are celebrated.