(Continued...)
A girdle is called ‘mekhalA’. If there are tingling
bells in it, it is called ‘kAnchI’. The name ‘raNat-kiNkiNi-mekhalA’ that
occurs in the LalitA-sahasranAma is just this ‘kvaNat-kAnchI-dhAmA’, namely, the
jingling girdle with bells. The string of bells is also called ‘maNi’. So
‘kAnchI’ is also known as ‘mani-mekhalA.
In Tamil literature ‘Mani-mekhalai’ is one of the
five great epics. The heroine of that epic is Manimekhalai. At the end of the
story she finally comes to the town of Kanchi where she feeds the poor from her
inexhaustible vessel (akshaya-pAtram). This work ‘Manimekhalai’ is slanted
towards Buddhistic religion. Accordingly the heroine reaches salvation after
getting the initiation from a Buddhistic Guru.
But the incident of feeding the poor from an ‘akshaya-pAtram’ is a
traditional story of the Goddess Kamakshi of Kanchi from age-old times.
(Continued...)
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