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Meenakshi Amman Temple
Name:	Meenakshi Amman Temple
Creator:	Pandya Kings
Date built:	Recent construction around 17th century AD
Primary deity:	Sundareswarar (Shiva) and Meenakshi (Parvati)
Architecture:	South Indian Architecture
Location:	Madurai

The Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple or Meenakshi Amman Temple (Tamil: மீனாக்ஷி அம்மன் கோவில்) is a historic Hindu temple located in the holy city of Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is dedicated to Lord Shiva (in the form of Sundareswarar or Beautiful Lord) and his consort, Goddess Parvati (in the form of Meenakshi or Fish-eyed Goddess). The temple forms the heart and lifeline of the 2500 year old city of Madurai^[1], home of the Tamil language.

According to Hindu legends, Lord Shiva, in the form of Sundareswarar, with his divine group of followers, appeared here in Madurai, to marry Pandya King Malayadwaja Pandya's daughter, Meenakshi, believed to be an incarnation of Hindu Goddess Parvati. This temple is one of the most sacred abodes of Parvati, others being Kamakshi of Kanchipuram, Akilandeswari of Thiruvanaikaval and Vishalakshi of Varanasi.

The temple has a stunning architecture and it was a frontrunner in the election for the modern seven wonders of the world for its architectural importance.^[2][3][4][5] The complex houses 12 magnificent gopurams or towers that are elaborately sculptured and painted. The temple is a significant symbol for the Tamil people, and has been mentioned since antiquity in Tamil literature, though the present structure is believed to have been built only recently in the early 17th century.

The divine marriage where brother Vishnu hands his sister Parvati to Shiva (from left, Vishnu, Meenakshi, Shiva)

According to Hindu legend, Lord Shiva came down to earth in the form of Sundareswarar to marry Meenakshi, an incarnation of Parvati, Shiva's divine consort. Parvati had earlier descended to earth in the form of a small child in response to the great penance of Malayadwaja Pandya, the ruler of Madurai.^[6] After growing up to adulthood, she began ruling the city. The Lord appeared on earth and proposed to her. The marriage was supposed to be the biggest event on earth, with the whole earth gathering near Madurai. Lord Vishnu, the divine brother of Meenakshi, was traveling to preside over the marriage from his holy abode at Vaikuntam. Due to a divine play, he was tricked by god Indra and delayed on the way. Meanwhile, the marriage was presided over by a local god Koodal Azhaghar. This angered Lord Vishnu, and he swore never to enter the city, settling on the outskirts at a beautiful hill called Alagar Koil. He was later appeased by other gods, and he proceeded to bless the divine couple - Shiva and Parvati.

Both the marriage and the Vishnu's pacification are still celebrated as the biggest festival in Madurai, called Chithirai Thiruvizha also called as Azhakar Thiruvizha (the festival for the Beautiful Lord).^[7] A detailed article on the divine marriage can be found here.

The divine couple are believed to have ruled the region for a long time. It is not clear what happened to the place after they left. Another legend says that Shiva's idol, in the form of the lingam, was discovered by the God of heaven, Indra, who built the original temple. This tradition is still followed in the temple - the deity is accompanied by a model of Indra's vehicle, during festive processions.

Meenakshi deity at the temple

The history of the original structure is not properly known, but Tamil literature speaks about the temple for the last couple of millennia. Thirugnanasambandar, the famous Hindu saint of Shaiva philosophy, has mentioned this temple as early as the 7th century, and describes the Lord as Aalavai Iraivan.^[8] The temple was believed to have been sacked by the infamous Muslim invader Malik Kafur in 1310^[8], and all the ancient elements were destroyed. The initiative to rebuild the structure was taken by Arya Natha Mudaliyar , the Prime Minister of the first Nayak of Madurai (1559-1600 A.D.), the founder of 'Poligar System'. Then came the most valuable contributions of Thirumalai Nayak circa 1623 to 1659. He took considerable interest in erecting the Vasantha Mandapa of the temple complex.

The inner sanctum sanctorum is more than 3500 years old^{[citation needed]}, and the outer walls and external construction are about 1500-2000 years old^{[citation needed]}. The complex is in around 45 acres and the temple is a massive structure measuring 254 by 237 meters. The temple is surrounded by 12 towers, the tallest of which, the famous Southern tower, rises to over 170 ft high.^[9]

Meenakshi Temple Gopuram at dusk

The Shiva shrine lies at the centre of the complex, suggesting that the ritual dominance of the goddess developed later. The Shiva shrine also consists of an unusual sculpture of the Hindu god Nataraja.

Meenakshi Temple south Entrance

This famous Hindu marquee and a dancing form of Shiva that normally has his left foot raised, has his right foot raised in this temple. According to the legend, this is on the request of the Rajasekara Pandya king who asked the Lord to change his position, as he felt that always keeping a single foot raised will pose enormous stress on that, based on his personal experiments in dancing.

Meenakshi Temple south Entrance, another view

^[10] This massive Nataraja sculpture is enclosed in a huge silver altar and hence called Velli Ambalam (Silver abode). Outside the Shrine, lies huge scultptures carved of single stone and there is a shrine for a giant Ganesh temple, called the Mukuruny Vinayakar. This idol is believed to have been found during an excavation process to dig the temple lake.^[9] The Meenkashi shrine is on the left of the Shiva shrine and is of scultpturally less valuable than the Shiva shrine.

Potramarai Kulam, the sacred pond measuring 165 ft by 120 ft,^[6] inside the temple is a very holy site for the devotees and people go around the lake before entering the main shrine. The etymology for the word means, the Pond with the Golden Lily and as the Lily that grows in it has a golden color. According to the legend, Lord Shiva promised to a stork that no fish or other marine life would grow here and thus no marine animals are found in the lake.^[11] In the Tamil legends, the lake is supposed to be a judge for judging a worth of a new literature. Thus, authors place their works here and the poorly written works are supposed to sink and the scholastic ones are supposed to float.^[12][6]

The Aayiram Kaal Mandapam or thousand pillar hall is of very high sculptural importance and contains 985 (instead of 1000) magnificiently carved pillars and maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India. The thousand pillar hall is supposed to have been built by Arya Natha Mudaliyar, the Prime Minister of the first Nayaka of Madurai (1559-1600 A.D.), the founder of 'Poligar System'. An equestrian statue of the Mudaliyar flanks one side of the steps leading to the 'mandapam'. Each pillar is sculptured and is a monument of the Dravidan sculpture. There is a Temple Art Museum in this 1000 pillars hall where you can see icons, photographs, drawings, etc., exhibiting the 1200 years old history. Just outside this mandapam, towards the west, are the Musical Pillars. Each pillar, when struck, produces a different musical note. The kalyana mandapa, to the south of the pillared hall, is where the marriage of Shiva and Parvati is celebrated every year during the Chithirai Festival in mid-April.

The most important festival associated with the temple is the Meenakshi Thirukalyanam (The divine marriage of Meenkashi) that is celebrated in April every year. During that one month period, in which most Tamilnadu temples celebrate their annual festivals, there are a number of events including the Ther Thiruvizhah(Chariot festival) and Theppa Thiruvizhah (Float festival) are celebrated. Apart from this, major Hindu festivals like Navrathri, Shivrathri are celebrated in a grand manner. Like most Shakti temples in Tamilnadu, the Fridays during the Tamil months of Aadi (July 15 - Aug 17) and Thai (Jan 15 to Feb 15) are popularly celebrated with thousands of devotees thronging to the temple. A detailed description of the festivals at this temple can be found here.

1. ^ India heritage - Meenakshi temple, Madurai.
2. ^ The top 77 nominees.
3. ^ Meenakshi temple a world wonder?.
4. ^ South India promotes temple as a living ‘wonder’.
5. ^ Popular demand: Meenakshi temple in the race for 7 wonders.
6. ^ ^{a b c} MAKING OF THE MAGNIFICENT TEMPLE DEDICATED TO MEENAKSHI SUNDERESWARAR.
7. ^ "Madurai - Chitrai festival.
8. ^ ^{a b} Official temple site.
9. ^ ^{a b} Madurai.com - The meenakshi temple.
10. ^ Velliambalam.
11. ^ Temple theertham.
12. ^ Sanga Thamizh.

• Official site
• Madurai Today : Overview of Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple
• About.com article
• Nice images portraying the temple architecture
• Dravidian Temple Architecture - Meenakshi Amman Temple, Madurai
• Meenakshi Temple Photo Gallery
• Read Useful Details about Meenakshi Temple
• http://www.madurai.com/meena.htm
• Indhistory page

• http://www.webindia123.com/tourism/pilgrim/meena.htm
• Meenakshi Amman Temple travel guide from Wikitravel

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Coordinates: 9°55′10″N, 78°07′10″E