Kankhal
City and sacred site (tirtha) three miles
south of the city of Haridwarin the state
of Uttar Pradesh. Kankhal is most
famous for the Daksha Mahadevtem-
ple, dedicated to the godShivain his
form as “Daksha’sLord.” This temple’s
charter myth is one of the most famous
of all the stories of Shiva. Daksha is one
of the sons of the god Brahmaand the
father of Sati, the goddess whom
Daksha gives in marriage to Shiva. When
Daksha feels that Shiva has not shown
him proper respect, he plans a great sac-
rificeto which he invites all the gods,
but purposely excludes Shiva. When Sati
asks why her husband has been excluded,
Daksha responds with a stream of
abuse, denouncing Shiva as worthless
and despicable. Humiliated, Sati com-
mits suicide. Shiva is furious when he
hears of Sati’s death, and in his rage cre-
ates the fierce deities Virabhadraand
Bhadrakali. He then comes storming
with his minions (gana) to the sacrificial
ground, completely destroying the sac-
rifice, and cuts off Daksha’s head.
Daksha is eventually restored to life,
repents his foolish pride, and asks Shiva
to remain at that site forever, which he
agrees to do.
There are numerous smaller temples
near the Daksha Mahadev temple, some
of which are dedicated to figures associ-
ated with this story, such as Virabhadra.
Across the street from the Daksha tem-
ple is a large ashram, or religious com-
munity, built by devotees (bhakta) of
the Bengali mystic Anandamayi Ma.
The ashram also contains her samadhi
shrine, or burialplace.
Kannada
One of the four Dravidianlanguages,
along with Tamil, Telegu, and
Malayalam; all four languages are spo-
ken in southern India. Kannada is the
predominant language in modern
Karnataka, one of the “linguistic” states,
formed after Indian independence in
1947 to unite people with a common
language and culture under one state
government. Despite its recent political
significance, Kannada has a long history
as a literary and cultural language and is
particularly important as the language
for the devotional (bhakti) poetry of the
Lingayatreligious community. See also
Tamil language.Kanphata
(“split ear”) Colloquial name for the
Nathpanthisect of ascetics, who are
followers of the sage Gorakhnath.
This particular name stems from the
Nathpanthi’s most characteristic
feature: When a Nathpanthi ascetic
is ready for final initiation, the cartilage
in his ears is slit with a razor to insert
the large earrings by which members
of this group are easily identified.
See Nathpanthi.Kanvar
A bamboo pole with baskets or recepta-
cles suspended from each end. In earlier
times a kanvar would have been a natural
way for people to carry heavy loads. Its
major use today is for religious rites in
which pilgrims carry waterfrom one
place to offer to a deityin another. The
kanvar is the device by which the water
is kept elevated the entire way. This
keeps the water’s original purityunbro-
ken, preserving it as an appropriate
offeringfor a deity. The most famous
example of this rite is at the temple of
Vaidyanathin the state of Bihar. It is
also found at temples in Haridwarin
Uttar Pradesh, Tarakeshvarin West
Bengal, and the hills of Maharashtra.Kanyadan
(“gift of a virgin”) In its most specific
sense, the kanyadan is the part of the
traditional wedding ceremony in which
the bride’s father (or guardian) formally
transfers her to her husband’s family. In
a more general sense, the word refers to
giving a daughterin marriage to another
family. This “gift” is believed to be highly
commendable for the father, since the
bride is supposed to be given withoutKanyadan