Kamakshi

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Kamakshi ( Sanskrit कामाक्षी Kāmākṣī , from kāma "desire; love" and akṣi "eye", for example: "the lusty-eyed", "the love-eyed" or "the one who reads the desires"), also Sri-Kamakshi-Ampal ( śrī : honorable salutation in Sanskrit, ampal: "goddess" in Tamil) Germanized Kamadchi or called in Tamil Kamatci , is the Hindu , Tamil mother goddess and goddess of mercy, who was mainly worshiped in South India , who emerged from the open sky to the Devas of the To free Asuras and kill the "demon" Bhandakasura . Kāmākṣī is also an epithet of the Shakti Shivas . Kamakshi is a divine form of Parvati . Legend has it that Kamakshi performed worship in the form of a Shiva lingam made of sand under a mango tree and asked for Shiva's hand to marry.

The Sri Kamadchi Ampal Temple is located in Hamm in North Rhine-Westphalia as the largest Hindu temple in her honor in Germany and the second largest in Europe. Its construction is based on the Kanchi-Kamakshi temple in Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu, which is important for Hindus . Another important Kamakshi temple is also located in Goa in Shiroda and in Chennai (formerly Madras ) in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. In the East Indies, Kamakshi is known as Kamakhya . In some regions they are also known as Lalitambika or Tripurasundari . Kamakshi was originally considered a wild and bloodthirsty goddess, who is said to have been tamed and transformed into a mild form by the holy Shankara . According to legend, he used the Sri Chakra , which fundamentally transformed the being of the goddess. In addition to purely Brahmanic rituals, the worship of Kamakshi also includes tantric elements.

Kamakshi is the epitome of beauty, peace and quiet. She does not ask for anything, but exudes love and goodness when you ask her and look at her image. The benevolent gaze ( darshana ) of the goddess fulfills all requests and wishes addressed to her and is of central importance in her rituals. The goddess is all eyes.

Iconography and symbolism

Kamakshi is a four-armed goddess. In her upper hands she carries arrows made of flowers and a ribbon, with which she symbolically connects people with the gods, in her lower hands a lotus flower or a parrot and a bow made of sugar cane (both attributes of the kama ). She can be shown sitting on a lotus in the lotus position ( Padmasana ) and with a smiling facial expression. She often wears a high crown with a half moon next to it and a red sari . Below it is always the three-dimensional Sri Chakra symbol , an abstract, tantric, triangular diagram (also called Yantra or Sriyantra ). This abstract form is far more important to the goddess than the anthropomorphic representation. The body of the goddess is often decorated with flowers, gold jewelry, pearls, precious stones and a garland around her back. Kamakshi's symbols stand for energy, protection, goodness and fertility.

literature

  • Martin Baumann, Brigitte Luchesi, Annette Wilke (eds.): Temples and Tamils ​​in their second home. Hindus from Sri Lanka in the German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, Würzburg 2003, ISBN 3-89913-300-5

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Axel Michaels , Der Hinduismus - Geschichte und Gegenwart , CH Beck Verlag Munich 1998, 2nd edition 2012, ISBN 978-3-406-54974-8 , page 256
  2. ^ A b c Gerhard J. Bellinger : Knaurs Lexikon der Mythologie, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-8289-4154-0 , page 257: Kāmākshi
  3. ↑ http://www.kamadchi-ampal.de/
  4. ↑ Martin Baumann, Brigitte Luchesi, Annette Wilke (eds.): Temples and Tamils ​​in a second home. Hindus from Sri Lanka in the German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, Würzburg 2003, ISBN 3-89913-300-5 , Annette Wilke, page 126
  5. ↑ a b About Goddess Kamakshi. Website of the Sri Kanchi Kamakshi Amman Temple in Kanchipuram ( Tamil Nadu , India), 2008, accessed on January 24, 2013 (English).
  6. ↑ About Kanchi Kamakshi Temple. Website of the Sri Kanchi Kamakshi Amman Temple in Kanchipuram ( Tamil Nadu , India), 2008, accessed on January 7, 2013 (English).
  7. ↑ Devdutt Patnaik: Desirable Goddess Kamakshi. The Times of India, September 26, 2011, accessed January 7, 2013 .
  8. ↑ Martin Baumann, Brigitte Luchesi, Annette Wilke (eds.): Temples and Tamils ​​in a second home. Hindus from Sri Lanka in German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, Würzburg 2003, ISBN 3-89913-300-5 , Anette Wilke, for example, page 132
  9. ↑ Martin Baumann, Brigitte Luchesi, Annette Wilke (eds.): Temples and Tamils ​​in a second home. Hindus from Sri Lanka in the German-speaking and Scandinavian region, Würzburg 2003, ISBN 3-89913-300-5 , Annette Wilke, page 133
  10. ↑ Martin Baumann, Brigitte Luchesi, Annette Wilke (eds.): Temples and Tamils ​​in a second home. Hindus from Sri Lanka in German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, Würzburg 2003, ISBN 3-89913-300-5 , Annette Wilke, z. B. Pages 126, 133
  11. ↑ Martin Baumann, Brigitte Luchesi, Annette Wilke (eds.): Temples and Tamils ​​in a second home. Hindus from Sri Lanka in the German-speaking and Scandinavian regions, Würzburg 2003, ISBN 3-89913-300-5 , Annette Wilke, page 129, illustration
  12. ↑ Martin Baumann, Brigitte Luchesi, Annette Wilke (eds.): Temples and Tamils ​​in a second home. Hindus from Sri Lanka in the German-speaking and Scandinavian regions, Würzburg 2003, ISBN 3-89913-300-5 , Annette Wilke for example, pages 123,133
  13. ↑ Martin Baumann, Brigitte Luchesi, Annette Wilke (eds.): Temples and Tamils ​​in a second home. Hindus from Sri Lanka in the German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, Würzburg 2003, ISBN 3-89913-300-5 , Annette Wilke, pages 132,133