Kāñcīpura is also called Kāñcī, Kāñcī-nagara, Kāñcī-kshetra and Śivakāñcīpura. It is the supreme Śakti-kshetra of South India and one of the seven sacred mokshapurīs, the cities through which liberation is open to devotees. It is the lasting earthly home of Lalitā Mahātripurasundarī as Kāmākshī, at the Kāmakoti Pīṭha. The city lies in the eka-āmra vana, the grove of the one sacred mango tree, on the bank of the river Kampā. Here Agastya received the Lalitopākhyāna from Hayagrīva. Here Pārvatīdevī did tapas for the darkening of the worlds and saw Kāmākshī. Here Bhairava was freed from brahmahatyā.

The Eka-āmra vana and the Kāmakoti Pīṭha

In the heart of Kāñcīpura stands the Eka-āmra vana, the grove of the single sacred mango tree. The Kāmakoti Pīṭha is inside it. This is the lasting earthly home of Lalitādevī as Kāmākshī. Ekāmreśvara, Bhagavān Śiva as master of the Eka-āmra, is also here as the great Śaiva liṅga of the grove. Hayagrīva says in the Lalitopākhyāna that Lalitādevī rules in Śrī Nagara in the cosmic realm, and yet she is also always present at the Kāmakoti Pīṭha. Her presence here is whole and eternal, not partial.

The Kāmākshī of Kāñcī is named in four forms:

Cit-Kāmākshī, the form of pure consciousness.
Śuddha-Kāmākshī, the pure form without qualities.
Parāparā (Pamparā) Kāmākshī, the middle form, both beyond the world and within it.
Lalitā-Kāmākshī, the four-armed form of devotion, who holds the pāśa (noose), the aṅkuśa (goad), the ikshu-cāpa (sugarcane bow) and the pañcabāṇa (five arrows).

Kāmākshī is also named as Mahālakshmī. She first made the three cosmic eggs (aṇḍas), from which Brahmā, Vishṇu and Maheśvara were born. Then she joined Mahālakshmī with Bhagavān Vishṇu, Pārvatī with Parameśvara, and Sarasvatī with Brahmā, and set the order of the cosmos in motion.

(Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Lalitopākhyāna, Chapter 39)

Agastya receives the Lalitopākhyāna

The ṛshi Agastya made a long pilgrimage through the sacred tīrthas of Āryāvarta and came to Kāñcīpura on his southern journey. Here he worshipped Ekāmreśvara (Bhagavān Śiva as master of the Eka-āmra) and Kāmākshīdevī. His tapas (austerity) was sincere, and he asked how bound souls (ātmās) are freed. Bhagavān Vishṇu then appeared before him in the Hayagrīva form and told him the whole Lalitopākhyāna, the divine account of Lalitādevī. Kāñcīpura is the place where this great Purāṇic teaching was given.

(Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Lalitopākhyāna, Chapter 5)

Brahmā’s darśana of Kāmākshī

Brahmā wished to see the supreme Parāśakti. He came to Kāñcīpura and saw Kāmākshīdevī herself at the Kāmakoti Pīṭha. He was overcome with devotion and composed and sang the great Kāmākshī-stotra. This hymn shows that Kāmākshī is one with the cosmic power that holds up all creation. It is kept in the Lalitopākhyāna as one of the authoritative descriptions of Kāmākshī’s nature and glory.

(Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Lalitopākhyāna, Chapter 39)

Pārvatī’s tapas at Kāñcī

Once at Kailāsa, Pārvatīdevī came up behind Parameśvara and covered his two eyes in play. The eyes of Bhagavān Śiva are the sun and the moon, so the three worlds fell into deep darkness. All acts of dharma stopped. The ṛshis left their tapas. The Vedic rites (vaidika karmas) could not be done.

Bhagavān Śiva gently scolded Pārvatī for this unplanned pāpa (sin) and told her to do tapas to wash it away. He sent her to two places, first to Kāśī and then to Kāñcīpura.

Pārvatī came to Kāñcīpura and settled on the bank of the Kampā river with a tulasī plant in front of her. There she did deep tapas. She had the darśana of Kāmākshī, who is Lalitādevī herself, always present here. By Kāmākshī’s grace Pārvatī’s pāpa was washed away, and she went back to Kailāsa.

(Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Lalitopākhyāna, Chapter 40)

Bhairava’s liberation at Kāñcī

The Lalitopākhyāna also tells how Bhairava was freed at Kāñcīpura. Śiva made Bhairava in a moment of fierce energy. Bhairava cut off the fifth head of Brahmā and was burdened with brahmahatyā (the pāpa of killing a brāhmaṇa). The cut skull stuck to his hand. He wandered through the worlds as a kāpālika (skull-bearer), looking for freedom from this pāpa.

His wandering brought him at last to Kāñcīpura. There the grace of Kāmākshīdevī freed him from brahmahatyā, and the skull fell from his hand. So Kāñcī is one of the supreme moksha-kshetras, a place where even the pāpa of brahmahatyā can be ended.

(Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Lalitopākhyāna, Chapter 40)

Kāñcīpura in the Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa

In the Vivāha Khaṇḍa of the Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Śivakāñcīpura is the capital of Kambukantha Mahārāja, the king of the Draviḍas. The svayaṃvara of his daughter Madanasundarī was held here. It led to Yūpaketu’s dramatic rākshasa-vivāha (marriage in the rākshasa way) and to the battles that followed.

Śatrughna arrived with his army, and peace was made. Then Bhagavān Rāma himself came to Śivakāñcīpura with Sītā and the whole royal party, to see and celebrate Yūpaketu’s wedding. The women of Kāñcīpura stood on their rooftops and showered flowers as Bhagavān Rāma entered the city. The wedding was held there, and then the party went back to Ayodhyā. Bhagavān Rāma’s visit to Kāñcī is an important event in the sacred history of the city.

(Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Vivāha Khaṇḍa, Chapter 8)

Sources

Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Lalitopākhyāna, Chapters 5, 39 and 40
Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Vivāha Khaṇḍa, Chapter 8