The goddess is inextricably tied to the eponymous town of
Kanyakumari, situated at the southernmost tip of
Tamil Nadu. The worship of Devi Kanya Kumari is also associated with the
Kumari Kandam, a mythical lost continent. Kanya Kumari is regarded to be the goddess who killed the demon Banasura, who performed a continuous penance with utmost austerities. The
Vaishnava Saint
Vadiraja Tirtha, in his
Tirtha Prabhanda, describes Kanya Kumari as
Lakshmi, who descended upon the earth to slay Banasura. Devi Kanya Kumari has been mentioned in
Ramayana,
Mahabharata, and the Sangam works
Manimekalai,
Purananuru and the Nārāyaṇa (Mahānārāyaṇa) Upanishad, a Vaishnava Upanishad in the Taittiriya Samhita of Krishna
Yajur Veda. The author of
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (60-80 CE) has written about the prevalence of the propitiation of the deity Kanyakumari in the extreme southern part of India; "There is another place called Comori and a harbour, hither come those men who wish to consecrate themselves for the rest of their lives, and bath and dwell in celibacy and women also do the same; for it is told that a goddess once dwelt here and bathed." Kanyakumari was under the rule of the Chera Dynasty followed by the rulers and kings of
Travancore under the overall suzerainty of the British until 1947, when India became independent. Travancore joined the independent India in 1947. Later in the state partition, Kanyakumari became part of
Tamil Nadu. The feminine aspects of Adi Parashakti (in its manifested and un-manifested forms) are called as Prakriti, and the male aspects are called as Purusha. The Prakriti is addressed in different names by different Hindu communities as Adi-parashakti, Bhadra, Shakti, Devi, Bhagavati, Amman, Rajarajeshwari, Shodashi; in different locations. All the material manifested aspects the Nature is classified as feminine and is the Prakriti or Mother Goddess and also the un-manifested forms Knowledge, Prosperity and Power are considered as feminine Prakriti, and it is source of energy for Creation, Sustain and Control, which is the male aspect (Purusha) of Prabrahma. In
Tantra, the worship of Prakriti is done in different methods: Dakshinachara (Right-Hand Path) (Sātvika rites), Vamachara (Left-Hand Path) (Rajas rites) and Madhyama (Mixed) (Tamasa rites) in different temples. The name of Devi in temples during Sātvika or Dakshina rites is 'Shrī Bhagavati' and Vaama (left method) rites is called 'Maha Devi' similar to
Maha Vidya.
Legend Banasura, a demon by birth, was the ruler of the land of Kanyakumari. He was a very powerful king. He practiced
tapasya and obtained a boon from Brahma that his death could only be caused by an adolescent girl. With this powerful boon, he became fearless and wreaked havoc on the entire world. He went on to conquer and oust
Indra from his throne. He banished all the
devas from their abode. The devas, who were the personification of the basic natural elements,
Agni (fire),
Varuna (water),
Vayu (air) became uncoordinated, and havoc spread in the universe, because
Indra (ether) was not able to administer and coordinate the
Pancha Bhoota. ==Worship==