Kanyakumari

(“virgin girl”) City and sacred site
(tirtha) at the extreme southern edge of
the state of Tamil Nadu, at the confluence of the Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea,
and Bay of Bengal. Kanyakumari is
important as a bathing (snana) place.
Kanyakumari is also the name of the
site’s major deity, a local goddess who
has been assimilated into the pantheon
as a manifestation of the goddess
Parvati. According to local tradition,
Kanyakumari set her heart on marrying
Shiva; when this was prevented she
vowed to remain a perpetual virgin
(kanya). Her manifestation here is clearly
different from all the other forms of
Parvati, who are invariably married to
Shiva, yet Kanyakumari’s unmarried status also gives her independent power.