Among the temples at Thanjavur, the Kamatchi Amman temple on the West main Street end near the corner of north main street is a popular one. The temple dedicated to Kamatchi Amman, a form of goddess Parvati, is made of pure gold and hence she is referred to as Bangaru Kamatchi Amman. The temple, where she is adorned, was built in 1771 by the then Maratha ruler Pratap Singh Bhonsle (reign:1739 to 1763) of Thanjavur Maratha dynasty that has marital link with the Maratha rulers of Satara, Maharashtra.
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| Thanjavur Maratha ruler Pratap Singh Bhonsle. en.wikipedia.org |
The sanctity of this temple is further enhanced by the fact that this idol of goddess Kamatchi was worshipped by a long line of great Acharyas of Sankara Mutt. This temple is undergoing renovation and the Kumbabishekam of this temple is due to take place on 23 March 2017 in the presence of Archaryas of Kanchi Sankarachariyar Mutt - Sri Jayendrar and junior swamiji Sri Vijayendrar. The Yagasala work had begun with Ganapathi Homam a few days ago,
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| Kamatchi Amman golden idol, Thanjavur..tripadvisor.in |
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| Kamatchi Amman golden idol, Thanjavur. TripAdvisor |
The idol, originally from Kasi (Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh) was in Kanchipuram in the 1700s. The clandestine journey of this
valuable and historical idol from Kanchipuram near Madras to Thanjavur is an interesting one, and it may baffle our imagination as it was beset with many dangers. This temple is presently
being managed by the Kanchi Sankarachariar Mutt. The
presiding deity is in a standing posture and it was originally in
the Kamakshi Amman temple at Kanchi. The Acharya of
Kanchi Shankaracharya Shri Chandrashekara Saraswathi IV felt it was not safe any longer to keep a big idol made of pure gold at Kanchipuram and decided to move it further down south where it could be guarded safely. The political atmosphere was then vitiated by competition and confrontation between the British on one hand and the French on the other hand. The threats of Carnatic Nawobs and Tipu sultan and their frequent skirmishes with the foreign powers added new dimension to the political instability in the regions around Madras (Chennai). The Acharya was mainly worried about the Muslim invasion and the safety of the idol as the Muslim rulers were unpredictable.
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| Kamatchi Amman golden idol, Thanjavur..tripadvisor.in |
In those days the religious head had to depend on palanquin for travel to cover long distances and they were not allowed to ride horses. The Kanchi seer had to shift the idol all the way from Kanchi to Thanjavur - more than 320 km, a tough and dangerous journey covering vast distance. On the way, the additional danger the mutt employees had to tackle was the menace of bandits. In order to protect the golden idol of Kamatchi against thieves or other dangers and to take the precious idol safely to Thanjavur, the Acharya and others decided to use a stratagem.
The idol was completely wrapped around with a few pieces of cloth and the shiny surface was smeared with black punugu (secretion of musk from Civet, a nocturnal animal). The covered idol was kept in a palanquin as if it was a child affected by small pox. This would have any onlookers believe that a small child afflicted with small pox was taken in a palanquin to some place for further treatment, etc. Thus the Acharya and his paraphernalia shifted the valuable idol to Udayarpalayam near Thanjavur initially and later moved it over to Konkaneswarar temple. This was done during the reign of Martha ruler Maharajah Pratap Singh. The idol was finally installed as per Agama sastras in 1771 at the present temple. Smearing the idol with Punugu is part of the ritual here and idol appears black and the coloration does not change during annual Navaratri abhishekams.
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| Thanjavur kamatch amman temple. Tamilnadu Tourism |
Yet another fact that needs to be mentioned is the temple's link with one of the trinity of Carnatic music Shyama Sastry. who was a great composer of Carnatic compositions in Telugu. His contemporaries were Sri Thyagaraja Swami and Sri. Muthuswami Deekshithar. Shyma Sastry came from a family that served as the priests in Bangaru Kamakshi Temple. It is believed that he himself served as a priest in this temple and some people say, it is debatable.
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| Thanjavur location map. Weather-Forecast.com |
The goddess is so compassionate, she blesses her devotees with all her mystic powers. Trust and belief are the driving forces. If you have them, goddess Kamatchi will never leave you in grief and pain.
http://navrangindia.blogspot.in/2017/03/bangaru-kamatchi-amman-temple-of.html
