[Advaita-l] Re: Advaita-l Digest, Vol 5, Issue 13 :DPDS - 21

[N.Seshan]

Hi

referring to the below quoted piece , i would like to know why the deity of
the place Tirumiyachur , close to mayavaram is not mentioned. The temple
itself is dedicated to Lalita and the local temple history ( sthala varular)
says that the lalita sahasranama was composed there... It is a lovely place,
i have been there on my trips to tiruvidaimarudur, the deity has a really
stunning appearance , especially on fridays, when there is I think special
alankaaram. ( not to take anything away from any of the other places
mentioned).
Rgds
N.Seshan



   2. Digest of Paramacharya's Discourses on Soundaryalahari
      (DPDS-21) (V. Krishnamurthy)


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Message: 2
Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 06:50:05 -0700 (PDT)
From: "V. Krishnamurthy" <profvk at yahoo.com>
Subject: [Advaita-l] Digest of Paramacharya's Discourses on
Soundaryalahari (DPDS-21)
 By the mention of 'KanchI' the author has hinted at the deity of his
devotion. There are scores of feminine deities in this country from Kashmir
to Kanyakumari. KshIra-bhavAni (in Kashmir), Bhagavati (in Kerala),
ChamunDeshvari and ShAradAmbA (in Karnataka), JnAnAmbA, BhramarAmbA and
Kanaka-durgA (in Andhra), TulajA BhavAni (in Maharashtra), ambAji (in
gujarat), Vindhya-vAsinI and anna-pUrNeshvarI (in Uttarpradesh), KALi (in
Bengal), KamAkhyA (in Assam), VaishNavI (in Jammu) and finally, MeenAkshI,
akhilANDeshvarI, dharma-samvarddhanI, KamalambAL, BalAmbAL, and
Shiva-kAma-sundarI (in Tamilnadu).



 Thus there are several  several deity-forms of ambAL. But, there is only
one deity which conforms to the  form of LalitA-tripura-sundari as
delineated in the ShrI-vidyA tantra with  certain characteristic physical
features and arms and weapons and that is the deity 'KamAkshi' of
Kanchipuram. The author of Soundaryalahari who does not mention the name of
the deity of his devotion throughout the text, has perhaps hinted it here,
by using the word 'KanchI-dAmA' !