Meenakshi Amman

Madurai

List of temples in Madurai:

• Meenakshi Amman Temple
• Alagar Temple
•   Palamudir cholai Murugan temple
• Rakaiye amman temple
• Madapuram Mariamman temple
• Theepakulam Mariamman temple
• Kodal alagar perumal temple
• Thirupoovanam puspaneswar temple
• Thiruparan kundram Murugan temple
• Narasingam Narasinga perumal Temple
• Madana Gopal Samy temple
• Thirumookur Kalamega Perumal Temple

Meenakshi Amman Templem

Know about Meenakshi.

                              The second king pandiya ie: Malayadwaja Pandiya the ruler of Madurai, and wife Kanchanamalai who performed a great putra kameshti yaga. the lord parvathi appered out of the Holy fire as a girl child. The girl came out with three breast. The king and all were shocked and a voice arise and it stated that the third breast would vanish soon the girl meets her future husband. The king named the girl as Tadaatagai. Tadaatagai learned all the 64 sastras and brave. As the time came when Tadaatagai was to be coronated, she was named as Meenakshi and she had to wage was on the three world across eight directions.After conquering Sathjaloka, Vaikunta,and Amaravati, She advaced to kailsha to defect Lord Shiva. By defecting all the bhootha ganas and Nandhi the girl moved toward Shiva. That moment she looked Shiva she unable to fight and realized that Siva is her future husband.That came to know by  the vanish of the third breast. The king arranged all the grand function for his daughter marriage. In that lord Vishnu ,the brother of Meenakshi, prepared to travel from his holy abode viaikutam to attend the marraige. due to the tricks by Indra he was delayed to attend the marriage.But the marriage was presided over by local god from Thirupparankundram pavalaakanivaai Perumal. After marriage the pair ruled the Madurai. The marriage is celebrated as Chitirai Thiruvizha and Azhakar Thiruvizha.


Goddess Meenakshi can be distinctly identified because she is always represented as a graceful lady wearing a green saree holding a Parrot in her right hand. The name Meenakshi can be split into “Meen” meaning Fish and “Akshi” meaning Eyes, thus giving the meaning as the “Lady with the Eyes of a Fish”.

About Temple

Meenakshi Temple is an architectural wonder. The temple which was choosen for the seven wonders of the world.This is located the center of the Maduari and the streets around the temples are looking like lotus shape. The Moolavar in this temple is Sundareswarar. The temple is about around 1500 years old.Total area of the temple is 45acre, with12 gopurams. And in that 4 Raja gopurams which faces 4 directions. South gopuram is the tallest among all with leves(ie: nellai)and about 52m height.The oldest among them is the East tower built in 1238. The shrines of Goddess Meenakshi and Lord Sundareshwara are covered on top by a golden vimanam or a shikhara. The ceilings of the inner corridors are colorfully painted and provide a beautiful visual experience. It is estimated that around 33,000 exquisite sculptures are found in the Temple complex.

This gopurams are renovated and constructed by different Kings. Meenakshi amman gopuram was renovated by Kulathi muthaliyar during 1570 and The renovation and rebuilding of the Meenakshi Temple started under King Viswanatha Nayak. The Meenakshi Temple was then expanded into its current state under the reign of Thirumalai Nayak during 1623 – 1655. He was responsible for the construction of several mandapams inside the Meenakshi Temple complex, especially the Vasantha Mandapam and the Kilikoondu Mandapam (Corridor of Parrots).


The moolavar Sundareswara is suyambhu(self-manifested).The moolavar having two gopurams the material is full gold. No matter, how many times you have visited the temple, each time you chance upon something new. Many times you are left wondering about the magical power of the architectural wonder and the stories behind.

 Sculpture of Lord Shiva

Sculpture depicting Arjuna in Penance

Lord Narasimha & Lord Shiva

Lord Shiva 25 heads and 50 hands

The idol of Shri Meenakshi Amman is made of greenish black stone. The Linga of Lord Pilgrimage Sundareshwara is believed to be one of the 68 Swayambhu Lingas worshiped in India. The Swayambhu Lingas are believed to be the representations of Lord Shiva that have risen from the ground by themselves. They have not been manmade and are naturally occurring. The Linga is supported by 64 Bhootaganas, 32 Lions, and 8 Elephants.

The Meenakshi Amman Temple is one of the Pancha Sabhai Sthalangal of Lord Nataraja, a form of Lord Shiva. Pancha means Five, Sabhai means hall and Sthala mean place. Lord Nataraja is referred to the form of Lord Shiva when he performs the different forms of Cosmic Dance. These five Sthalas or places represent the different forms of cosmic dance performed by Lord Nataraja. They are symbolized in sculptures depicting the respective postures and made out of precious elements. The sculpture of Lord Nataraja worshiped at the Meenakshi Amman Temple is called “Velli Ambalam Natarajar” and it is made of “Velli” meaning “Silver”. The uniqueness of this representation is that Lord Nataraja is shown with his right leg raised instead of the usually left leg as represented in the other depictions. The other four Temples with such unique sculptures are located in Chidambaram (Gold), Thiruvalangadu (Emerald), Tirunelveli (Copper) and Coutrallam (Art).



The Porthamarai Kulam, meaning the “Pond with the Golden Lotus” is the name given to the sacred Temple Tank. It is also called as Adi Theertham, Shiva Ganga, Utthama Theertham, Gnana Theertham and Mukthi Theertham. It is believed that the tank was initially created by Lord Shiva himself when he thrust his Trishul into the Earth on request from Nandi. It was believed in ancient times that the worthiness of any new literature can be judged by placing the book on the surface of the tank. The poor quality literature would sink while the scholastic ones would remain afloat. It is believed that taking a bath with the water from the Theertham will provide Mukti or Moksha in life. But bathing is not allowed.


The imposing 14 Gopurams of the Temple Complex are awe inspiring and intricately carved. The numerous Mandapas of the Temple like the Thousand Pillars Mandapam, Ashta Shakthi Mandapam, Kambatadi Mandapam, Puthu Mandapam, Viravasantharaya Mandapam, Kalyana Mandapam, Mudali Pillai Mandapam and the Mangayarkarasi Mandapam tell us stories about Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati sculpted out of rock. There are several legends of Lord Shiva depicted in statues like the Thiruvilayadal (Games of Lord Shiva), Mahabharatha, Bikshadanar, and Ramayana. A unique fact that can be observed about the placement of shrines is that the shrine of Lord Sundareshwara is exactly one-fourth of the total area of the temple. The shrine of Goddess Meenakshi is exactly one-fourth of the area of Lord Sundareshwara’s shrine. This might indicate that in the earlier times, Lord Shiva was given ritualistic importance over Goddess Meenakshi.

Ganapathi idol,Meenakshi amman temple.

A huge Ganapathi idol is worshiped just outside the sanctum out of Goddess Meenakshi. This idol is supposed to be at least 1500 years ago. It was discovered by the King Thirumalai Nayak during the digging of the Temple area for its renovation. As one comes out of the sanctum of Goddess Meenakshi, one must look up to the ceiling to see a recently painted 3-Dimensional image of Lord Shiva’s Linga. The Linga gives us an illusion of following us as we circle around it below.



Bhadra Kali,Meenakshi amman temple.


Hanuman Idol,Meenakshi Amman Temple


Pudhumandapam is the area around meenakshi amman temple.In olden days it is under temple permises. Now it is acting as shopping complex.


Meenakshi Amman idol,Pudumandapam,Madurai.

Nandi,Pudhumandapam,Madurai


Meenakshi Marriage,Pudhumandapam.

Ravanan tenheaded(carrying siva and parvathi),Pudhumandapam,meenakshi temple,Madurai.

Ukrathandarvar,Pudhumandapam,meenakshi temple,Madurai.


Veeputhi pillaiyar,near lotus pond,Meenakshi temple,Madurai



cylindrical stone drum for sandal paste,Killi Mandapam,Meenakshi temple

Dharmar,

Arjunan,Meenakshi temple

Bhima,Meenakshi temple


Shaga dev,Meenakshi temple.

Beautiful and bright frescoes depicting temple legends on the walls adjacent to the Lotus pond.