Among the temples at Thanjavur, the Kamatchi Amman temple on the West 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 Pratapa Simhan. 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 oresence of Archaryas of Kanchi Sankarachariyar Madam - Sri Jayendrar and junior swamiji Sri Vijayendrar. The Yagasala work had begun with Ganapathi Homam a few days ago,
 |
| Kamatchi Amman golden idol, Thanjavur. TripAdvisor |
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.
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 kilo meters. 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, 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 pharapernalia 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 Pratapa Simhan The idol was finally installed as per Agama satras in 1771 at the present temple. Smearing the idol with Punugu is part of the ritual here and idol appears black and the colouration does not change during annual Navarathri abhishekams.
 |
| 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.
 |
| Thanjavur location map. Weather-Forecast.com |
Kamatchi Amman here has special mystic powers: Light from Moola kamatchi; Sakthi from Chakra Kamatchi;Benevolence from Tapas Kamatchi; Blessings from Pilasa Kamatchi. Hema Kamatchi has the combined
powers of these forms
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.