Kanyakumari

The goddess is inextricably tied to the eponymous town of Kanyakumari, situated at the southernmost tip of Tamil Nadu. The worship of Devi Kanya Kumari is also associated with the Kumari Kandam, a mythical lost continent. Kanya Kumari is regarded to be the goddess who killed the demon Banasura, who performed a continuous penance with utmost austerities. The Vaishnava Saint Vadiraja Tirtha, in his Tirtha Prabhanda, describes Kanya Kumari as Lakshmi, who descended upon the earth to slay Banasura. Devi Kanya Kumari has been mentioned in Ramayana, Mahabharata, and the Sangam works Manimekalai, Purananuru and the Nārāyaṇa (Mahānārāyaṇa) Upanishad, a Vaishnava Upanishad in the Taittiriya Samhita of Krishna Yajur Veda. The author of Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (60-80 CE) has written about the prevalence of the propitiation of the deity Kanyakumari in the extreme southern part of India; "There is another place called Comori and a harbour, hither come those men who wish to consecrate themselves for the rest of their lives, and bath and dwell in celibacy and women also do the same; for it is told that a goddess once dwelt here and bathed." Kanyakumari was under the rule of the Chera Dynasty followed by the rulers and kings of Travancore under the overall suzerainty of the British until 1947, when India became independent. Travancore joined the independent India in 1947. Later in the state partition, Kanyakumari became part of Tamil Nadu. The feminine aspects of Adi Parashakti (in its manifested and un-manifested forms) are called as Prakriti, and the male aspects are called as Purusha. The Prakriti is addressed in different names by different Hindu communities as Adi-parashakti, Bhadra, Shakti, Devi, Bhagavati, Amman, Rajarajeshwari, Shodashi; in different locations.

The Bhagavati Kumari Amman Temple in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu is dedicated to her. It is located at the southern tip of main land India, on the confluence of the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea, and the Indian Ocean. Legend attributes Sage Parashurama for performing the consecration of the temple. The goddess is said to remove rigidity of the mind; devotees usually feel the tears in their eyes or even inside their mind when they pray to the goddess in devotion and contemplation.

Chitra Pournima Festival: on the Full moon day in May Navaratri festival: 9 day festival in (September–October). The music artists get an opportunity to offer their artistic skill to the goddess by performing in the Navarathri Mandapam. Vaisakha festival: 10-day festival in May–June culminating by a Thoni Ezhunellathu in May–June. During this festival Devi will be taken in procession both in the morning and evening, during Aaraatu the eastern door is opened. On the ninth day, the Thoni Ezhunellathu takes place. Devi will be taken round the water on the western part in a boat. Kalabham festival: The idol is smeared in Sandal paste in the last Friday of the month of Karkidaka or Aadi, in July–August.

Located in: Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu.