"Jaya Jaya Shankara, Hara Hara Shankara" the people were heard chanting when the two Shankaracharyas of Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam entered in remote part of the country.

"Kanchi Shankara, Kamakoti Shankara" the refrain continued as they were escorted to the place where they were to be welcomed. Some of those present were heard asking "Where is this Kanchi?"

Kanchi, the short form for Kanchipuram, is one of the seven mokshaouris in the country. A mokshapuri is a place where, either by being born or by dying, a person gets deliverance from the cycle of births and deaths.

Ayodhya, Mathura, Maya (Haridwar), Kasi (as Varanasi is popularly known), Kanchi, Avantika (present day Ujjain) and Dwaraka are the seven Mokshaouris. It may be noted that all but one of them are in Northern India. Kanchi, having Goddess Kamakshi as the presiding deity, is the only mokshapuri situated in South India.

The sacred city is located about 75 kilometers from Chennai (Madras). It is associated with great rereligious preceptors. Sri Adi Shankara, the greatest and the most renowned philosopher of the world, established the Kamakoti Peeram here. He himself presided over it before ascending the Sarvagna Peetam and attaining Videha Mukthi.

Ramanujacharya, the founder of the Visishtadvaita Sampradaya, was born in Sriperumbudur near Kanchi. He had his early education in Kanchipuram. Ramanuja entered the ascetic order while rendering service to Lord Varadaraja.

Vendata Desika and Pillai Lokacharya, founders of the Vadakalai and Thenkalai Sampradayas of Vaishnavism respectively, were natives of Kanchi. Jnanaprakasa, the Saivaite monk, also belonged to Kanchi.

Kanchi was also the home of several distinguished poets and scholors. The city flourished as a center of literary eminence with institutions for advanced study of Vedas and Shastras. These were kwnon as Ghatikas. There is evidence to show that all the different Sakhas (branches) of the Vedas and Shastras were taught to thousands of students in the Ghatikas.

It is noteworthy that there is no sub-shirne for Devi Parvati in any of the temples of Lord Siva in Kachipuram. The principal seat of the Parasakthi is the temple of Devi Kamakshi. Inside the temple, there are sub-shrines for Sri Kasi Viswanatha, Devi Annapurani, Devi Syamala and Sri Adi Shankara. Right in front of Devi Kamakshi, in the pose of Sri Raja Rajeshwari, is the Srichakra inscribed in a Salagrama by Sri Adi Shankara Himself and consecrated by Him.

The Acharyas of the Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam are the hereditary trustees of the temple. During recent times, the Vimanams over the sanctum sanctorum of the Devi temple and that of Sri Adi Shankara were plated with gold. A golden chariot was also made for taking out the Devi in a procession on festival days.

Kanchi is known as the Prthvi-Kshetra. According to ancient literature Devi Kamakshi had observed the vrata of Parthiva Linga puja, i.e. workshipping the Lord in the form of Linga made of sand. Hence, even today the Siva linga in the pricipal Siva temple of Kanchipuram is of earth and covered with a metal cover. There is a mango tree in the temple under which Devi Kamakshi had undertaken penance.

Kanchi is also one of the foremost of Shaki-peetas of Bharatdesa. It is the Nabhisthan (Navel of the Earth). Kanchi also means a metal girdle, usually made of silver or gold, worn by women around the waist.

Kanchi is also famous for another reason. Its textile and silk weaving, especially its sarees, command an international market. It exported cotton fabrics to China and western countries from very ancient times.

The Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam is making strenuous efforts to restore the divine city to its ancient and pristine glory in the cultural, spiritual, Literary, educational and social spheres.