Kannika Parameswari Koyil

Sri Vasavi Kannika Parameswari Temple was built in 1921 by the Arya Vysyas of Pondicherry. The main temple of this community is in Penukonda, Andhra Pradesh where the Goddess Sri Vasavi Kannika Parameswari incarnated. The temple features European style columns and arches around the central sanctuary. The moola murti is South facing, as is the temple entrance on Kamakshi Amman Koyil Street, at the MG Road cutting. Immediately outside the garbhagriha, to her right is Vinayaka, and on her left is Murugan. This garbhagriha area is separated by two doors, made distinctive by the presence of coloured stained glass lunettes above them, that lead to the rear prakaram. To their left and right are small rooms, temples in their own right. The right temple has utsava figures of Rama, Lakshmana, Sita, and Hanuman; the left has the utsava murtis of Mahalakshmi, Ganesha, and two large and small Kubera Yantras which were found on the site at the time of the building construction. Being the private temple of the Arya Vysya Chettys or Telugu Komati community, but also the private temple of a community long settled in Tamil-speaking Pondicherry, the Kannika Parameswari temple follows mostly the Tamil calendar, but also the Telugu for some events, such as Ugadi and Vasavi Jayanti. Its key annual events are the 13-day Rama Navami Utsavam in Panguni and a 17-day Navaratri utsavam in Purattasi-Aippasi.