Kamakshi Amman Temple

Kamakshi Amman Temple is dedicated to Goddess Kamakshi, worshipped here as the supreme form of Adi Parashakti, and is counted among the eighteen Shakti Peethas linked to the scattered parts of Sati's body. Local tradition holds that the goddess performed penance at a mango tree in the town before Shiva accepted her as his consort, a story that gives the temple its central place in Kanchipuram's religious life. It is also the only shrine in the city with an independent Shakti sanctum, since the goddess here is considered to represent the divine feminine for all of Kanchipuram's many Shiva temples at once.