Mangadu Kamakshi Amman Temple

Mangadu Kamakshi Amman Temple

Mangadu Kamakshi Amman Temple is a famous pilgrim destination Hindu temple dedicated to goddess Parvathi, located in Mangadu, a suburb of Chennai, The term Mangadu means “Mango Forests or Mango Groves” and as the term implies this must have been a thickly wooded Mango groove in times of yore.

The temple sports the Chola style of Architecture and construction. The Raja Gopuram was a recent addition to the Temple. The Raja Gopuram or the Main entrance faces South and is 7 tiered with great sculptures on it.

Legend

Mangadu is known for the temple of “Tapas Kamakshi” or Goddess Kamakshi performing penance in Fire. This is the place where the goddess performed her penance to marry and re-unite with Lord Shiva. All 32 types of Dharmic rituals were performed here by the goddess.

The background is that when Lord Shiva and Parvati where in Mount Kailash the Goddess playfully closed the eyes of the Lord Shiva and as a result the whole universe fell into eternal darkness. So the Lord ordained her to perform Tapasya.

The Goddess came down to this place and performed penance amidst “Panchagni” resting her left leg on the sacred fire and folding her right leg. She holds a “Japamala” in her hand as she meditated on Lord Shiva who asked her to come to Kanchipuram for marriage.

After the goddess left the place, the heat of the fire that she had created caused great discomfort and became unbearable for all living beings there. During his pilgrim tours, Sage Adi Shankaracharya visited Mangadu and installed a Sri Ardhameru Chakram at this place to calm down the heat of the fire created by the Goddess and at the same time make it into a place that is soothing for all living beings.

We can even today see the “Chakra” in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple and poojas are performed regularly to this Chakra. This Chakra is considered to be a Tantric form of the Goddess herself and hence Mangadu also finds a unique place amongst worshippers of the Tantric sect as well.

An abhishekam being performed to this Ardhameru Chakram on every Vijaya Dashami day.

As the temple is highly powerful people come here to pray for Marriage, childbirth.As the deity appears with a crescent moon, it is highly auspicious for children appearing in exams, or job aspirants come and offer prayers before their interviews.