Devipuram, Hindu temple complex in Visakhapatnam district, India
Devipuram is a Hindu temple complex near Visakhapatnam whose main building, the Sahasrakshi Meru Temple, is a three-storey structure shaped as a Sri Meru Yantra, a three-dimensional form of the Sri Chakra. It measures 108 feet square at its base and rises 54 feet. Worshippers reach the sanctum by walking inward and upward past more than 100 life-sized murthis of shaktis and yoginis. The Kamakhya Peetham and Sivalayam stand on adjacent hillocks.
In 1983 the nuclear physicist N. Prahalada Sastry (1934–2015), later known as Sri Amritananda Natha Saraswati, left a 23-year career at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research to start the complex, after the Putrevu family asked him to build a temple and donated 3 acres, to which he added 10. The Kamakhya Peetham and Sivalayam were built on the hillock in 1984, the Sahasrakshi Meru Temple was begun in 1985 and consecrated in 1994, and it was re-consecrated in February 2007.
Devotees may perform puja to the Devi themselves, regardless of caste, creed or gender, a policy compared to that of the Kamakhya temple complex in Assam. The temple's murthis are mapped to the Navavarana Puja, the worship of the nine enclosures, condensed into the Sri Devi Khadgamala Stotram, which forms the basis of the layout. Many murthis are depicted sky-clad, which has drawn attention over the years.
Devipuram lies near Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. The main Sahasrakshi Meru Temple is entered by walking inward and upward around more than 100 life-sized murthis of shaktis and yoginis, so allow time for the climb. The Kamakhya Peetham and Sivalayam stand on adjacent hillocks. Devotees may perform puja to the Devi themselves, regardless of caste, creed or gender.
The Sri Chakra Maha Meru found buried at the site was made of panchaloha, and it was later concluded that a large yajna had been held in that area more than 250 years earlier. The hillock's cleft rock, resembling the Kamakhya Peetam in Assam, is what drew the founder to build there.
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