HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT PALLAVA CAPITAL

bought myself a Kamakshi Deepam last week after years of wanting one. This naturally led to thoughts of the Devi at Kanchipuram, and I remembered a nice story from the holy city's annals.

- RENUKA NARAYANAN

Sometime in the 1960s, a poor bangle-seller wandered from place to place, selling his wares. One day, he wandered into the temple town of Kanchipuram. Somehow, nobody seemed interested in buying anything. Tired and dejected by late afternoon, he sat down at the doorway of the Kanchi Kamakoti Matham.

From deep within, the Kanchi Paramacharya, renowned for his frequently amazing omniscience, suddenly told an aide, "Give the bangle-seller at the gate food and buttermilk. Ask him to wait. Quietly tell the devotees who come for evening darshan to buy bangles for their womenfolk in Devi's honour." Of course, they did, and the bangle-seller went away feeling cherished and successful. Not everyone may be in a position to perform great deeds of service, but good thoughts and small, sweet acts of kindness could be the lamps we light.

But a little on Kanchipuram itself. As many know, it's located about a two hours' drive north of Chennai. But there is a larger, deeper context. As mentioned in an earlier column in this series, there are seven mokshapuri or salvation cities in India, namely Kashi or Varanasi, Avantika or Ujjain, Ayodhya, Haridwar, Mathura, Dwaraka and Kanchipuram. Out of these, Kanchipuram is the sole mokshapuri city present in South India.