Thursday, 20 November 2014

Kanyakumari

Kanyakumari formerly known as Cape Comorin, is a town in Kanyakumari Dist., in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. It lies at the southernmost tip of mainland India (the southern extremity of India as a whole being Indira Point on Great Nicobar Island). Cape Comorin is the southern tip of the Cardamom Hills, an extension of the Western Ghats range along the west coast of India. Place takes its name from the Goddess Devi Kanya Kumari, considered to be a sister of Krishna. Women pray to her for marriage. The goddess is believed to be the one who removes the rigidity of our mind. The temple here is a Shakti Peetha, one of the holiest shrines of the Mother goddess. Also nearby are eleven sacred theertham.




The place was called Kanyashram of the Baalaambika, the deity of the temple. The ablution in sea for Pitr Tarpan is done here. This is one of the rare temples in India where Devi (Mother Goddess) is worshipped as a child. The rites and rituals are done in the Kerala Namboothiri method, so there are slight differences in the way of worship compared to the temples of the nearby region. The deity is the goddess of Sanyasa, so people from all over India who desire to devote their life as Sanyasin come here and take the deeksha. Swami Vivekananda came to this temple as directed by his Guru Shri Ramakrishna Prarama Hamsa, being a Sanyasin. The temple is very old and is mentioned in ancient Sanskrit literature.


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