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| Tiruverkadu Devi Karumariamman Temple | |
|---|---|
 Tiruverkadu Devi Karumariamman Temple | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Hinduism |
| District | Chennai |
| Deity | Karumariamman |
| Location | |
| Location | Tiruverkadu |
| State | Tamil Nadu |
| Country | India |
 Interactive map of Tiruverkadu Devi Karumariamman Temple | |
Tiruverkadu Devi Karumariamman Temple is aHindu temple inTiruverkadu, a suburb ofChennai, inTamil Nadu,India. The temple is maintained and administered by theHindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of theGovernment of Tamil Nadu.[1]
The neighbourhood had remained a denseneem forest since the ancient times. This resulted in the locality being calledVelakadu, meaning "jungle of neem". The presence of asnake pit where goddess Karumari (an incarnation ofParvathi) is believed to be residing in the form of snake eventually gave the nameThiruverkadadu, withthiru being the Tamil equivalent of the honorific Hindu term "Sri".[2]
During theDwapara Yuga, tyrant kingKamsa, who ruled the northern part of theIndian subcontinent, gave his sisterDevaki toVasudeva in marriage. When he was sending the couple to Vasudeva's home, an oracle spoke from the sky informing Kamsa that the eighth child to be born to his sister would eventually kill him. On hearing this, Kamsa became furious and imprisoned Devaki and Vasudeva. Whenever a child was born to his sister, Kamsa would kill the newborn, and he succeeded in killing seven children. In Devaki's eighth pregnancy,Vishnu took hisninth avatar in the form ofKrishna. At the same time, Vishnu's sister goddess Parvathi appeared in the form of Maya in the womb ofNanda Gopa's wifeYashoda, who was also pregnant in the village ofAyarpadi. When Devaki gave birth the male child Krishna and Yashoda to the female child Maya, Vasudeva swapped the infants with divine help. When Kamsa was informed of the birth of a girl child to Devaki, he decided to kill the girl child anyway. When he was about to strangle the child, the divine child jumped into the sky and hinted that her brother would come from a shepherd's hut in Ayarpadi and kill him at the age of eight. Furious and confused, Kamsa uttered "Karumari" (meaning “the one who swapped the womb”).[2]
Karumari took on a fierce and terrifying form to subdue the demons and appeared in dark blue hue, planting a trident in front of her. Her fury was unbearable to the demons who eventually subdued. To pacify his sister, Vishnu appeared in front of the fierce Karumari and implored her to show her head alone and hide her body, hinting that her compassionate glance is enough to save the world. Karumari did so and additionally took a beautiful form for the devotees who came to worship her.[2] The fierce form of Karumari, whom Vishnu appeased came to be known as "Narani" (meaning the female form ofNarayana) and "Krishnamari" (since she swapped womb with Krishna), and the beautiful form came to be known as "Sivai" (meaning the female form ofShiva).[2]
WhenSage Agastya saw the goddess in this state with a double form, he sang in praise of her in highTamil verses. The goddess appeared to Sage Agastya on a full moon day in the Tamil month ofThai which fell on a Sunday. This day ofPushyanakshatra (poosam in Tamil) is considered the incarnation day of goddess Karumari.[2] Karumari said to Agastya that she was waiting for him to come and worship her and that she will take on the form of a snake and live in the forest, only to appear again inKali Yuga to restore peace with ashes, when she will have a temple and a holy pond to reside with all her entourage of deities. In Kali Yuga, the goddess was found to be residing in an anthill under a neem tree in the “Velakadu” locality and a temple was built there, with a holy pond located directly opposite the temple. The idols of the goddess have been installed in the place where the anthill once stood. The anthill now remains in the north-eastern corner of the temple, with atrident adorned withturmeric andsaffron installed on the spot.[2]
The deity of the temple isKarumariamman. Its idol is in the sanctum sanctorum in a graceful form with all Parasakthi features. There is also a shrine for Karumariamman idol with the idol made of wood. She is called Wooden Idol Amman.[3]
There was an anthill. People worshipped as Goddess. She appeared in the dream of a devotee and asked him to build a temple for Her. When the anthill was about to be destroyed they saw the Goddess in swayambu form. As she was not in the womb of a mother, she is called as one not from the womb (Karuvil Illatha Karumari).[3]
There is a tank outside the temple. It is known as sacred ash tank.[3]
Sunday is celebrated as the day of Karumari. One can happily witness the scene of sun rays falling on the head of Devikarumari twice a year.[4]
In August 2023, the Ministry for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments announced two projects worth around₹ 800 million, one of which is building three new gopurams (towers) as part of the temple's consecration (kumbabishekam), expected to be completed within two years. One of the gopurams will have five tiers and two will have three tiers each.[5]