Kamakshi Amman Temple, Mangadu – Legends
Mother Kamakshi penance on Lord Shiva:
Once
Parvathi Devi closed the eyes of Shiva for fun which resulted in total darkness
of the whole universe. Shiva was displeased by her act and she had to come down
to earth and do penance to join Shiva once again. Here She penanced standing on
tip of her left leg on fire and so she is known as Tapas Kamakshi. At the same
time, Shukra was also doing penance to get back his eye sight when he intervened
to stop Mahabali from the offering of three feet of land to Lord Vamana, the
dwarf. He blocked the Jal Patra the water bowl.
Lord
Vamana used a Darba grass to remove the block and thus made Venus blind in one
eye. To get back his eyes, Shukra-Venus also performed penance on Lord
Shiva in this place when Kamakshi also was on a penance. Lord Shiva
appeared before Shukra the devotee first and granted his eye
back. Priority was given to his devotee first. Then, Lord Shiva asked Kamakshi
to end her penance and go to Kancheepuram (Kamakshi came to Kanchi, made a
Shiva Linga of mud and started her pooja once again. She was then married to
Shiva at Kanchipuram where she is known as Kalyana Kamakshi).
While
going in an anxiety, she did not put down the Yagna fire and so all the living
beings around were suffering due to the heat generated. When Aadhi Shankara was
passing through, he installed a Srichakra called Artha Meru made of 8 herbs and
reduced the heat. Still people feared with the Kamakshi idol in penance and so
the later Sankaracharya’s shifted this idol to the side of the temple and
installed another Kamakshi in Santha Roopam, called Aadhi Kamakshi, with
Sugarcane stick in one hand and Parrot in the other.
Mangadu:
The term
Mangadu means "Mango Forests or Mango Grooves" and as the term
implies this must have been a thickly wooded Mango groove in times of yore.
Mother fondness for Milk:
There is
an interesting story about her fondness for milk. When Kamakshi was in deep
penance in Mangadu with no one around only the cows were her food givers. The
cowherds used to graze the cattle near the place where Kamakshi was meditating.
The divine intervention is discernible at this juncture. At least one cow used
to feed her milk every day. For many years this was her staple food. Thus, she
grew fond of milk and it is offered to appease her.