Madurai Meenakshi is nominated for one of the Wonders of the World, this temple of Meenakshi Amman in Madurai stands apart in terms of exuberance and excellence. A master piece of construction, it is believed that Lord Siva himself descended upon this holy place to seek the hand of Goddess Meenakshi, a place where the Celestial Wedding took place, a place where Dravidian culture and Hindu Tradition meet.

MADURAI- the name at once evokes a feeling of devotion and awe; devotion towards Mother Meenakshi and Lord Sundareshwarar, the presiding deities at the most famous Madurai Meenakshi Temple of Tamil Nadu and awe at the long, uninterrupted history of literature, art and architecture that flourished in this Temple town from Pre-Christian era to the present day. The temple forms the heart and lifeline of the 2500 year old city of Madurai.

The enormous temple complex is dedicated to Shiva, known here as Sundareshvara and his consort Parvati or Meenakshi. The original temple was built by Kulasekara Pandya, but the entire credit for making the temple as splendid as it is today goes to the Nayaks. The Nayaks ruled Madurai from the 16th to the 18th century and left a majestic imprint of their rule in the Meenakshi – Sundareswarar Temple.

As one enters into the Sundareshwar Sactum of the Temple, one witnesses the amazing Dwajasthambam standing tall and radiating gold. One can find enumerable architectural sculptures on every single wall inside this Sanctum. Foreign visitors will be able to visit until this Sanctum.

This Mandapam is famous for depicting all the 25 forms of Lord Shiva. Being situated just in front of the main sanctum and containing as it does the Nandhi Mandapam and tghe dwajasthambams, it has all its sculptures related only to Shiva forms.

The scultptures speak of the divine atmosphere that prevailed at that time. All the faces in the sculptures show warmth and flow. It is a conglomeration of all the divinity in the three worlds that is depicted in a grand manner in this Mandapam.

Going through this sanctum inside in the main Sundareshwarar sannidi where one would be able to have darshan of Lord Siva.

The above picture is the deity of the fierce Bhadrakali. Small balls of butter are hurled at the deity by the devotees to appease her anger.

The Sculpture of Urdhva Thandavar is found in the southern portion of the easternside of the Kambathadi Mandapam. It represents one of the dancing forms of Shiva. This mode of dancing in which Shiva lifted His right leg straight up to the level of His head refers to a contest between Him and Kali as to who wa the better dancer.

As Kali danced equally well in all the forms of dancing, Shiva finally began the Urdhva Tandavam, which, ofcourse, Kali in her modesty could not perforṃ.

According to a mythological story, the Pandyan king Malayadhwaja and his queen Kanchanamala performed the ‘Putra Kameshti Yaga’ for a child. At the suggestion of Shiva, his eternal consort Parvathi consented to become the child of the pious king. She rose effulgent from the sacrificial fire as a little girl, with three breasts; the third of which would disappear when Shiva set his eyes on her. The girl was named Thadathangai and she was brought up as a ‘princess’ under divine instructions.

Princess Thadathangai succeeded her father to the throne and led armies on successful campaigns of conquest. In her last campaign in North India, she challenged Shiva himself at Kailas, but when She saw the great Lord, She fell in love with him. The bridegroom followed her home, married her, took the name Sundara Pandya and together they ruled Madurai. According to a mythological story, the Pandyan king Malayadhwaja and his queen Kanchanamala performed the ‘Putra Kameshti Yaga’ for a child. At the suggestion of Shiva, his eternal consort Parvathi consented to become the child of the pious king. She rose effulgent from the sacrificial fire as a little girl, with breasts; the third of which would disappear when Shiva set his eyes on her. The girl was named Thadathangai and she was brought up as a ‘princess’ under divine instructions.

 

Princess Thadathangai succeeded her father to the throne and led armies on successful campaigns of conquest. In her last campaign in North India, she challenged Shiva himself at Kailas, but when She saw the great Lord, She fell in love with him. The bridegroom followed her home, married her, took the name Sundara Pandya and together they ruled Madurai.

With all the celebrities from the three worlds descending upon earth for the occassion of the celestial wedding, the Kambatthadi Mandapam(which is before the Sundareshwarar Sannidihi) offers the best sculptures of Divine Stories. This Mandapam depicts all the 25 forms of Lord Shiva.

The Scene below shows Shiva standing on the right with his right hand just holding Meenakshi’s right hand while Sri MahaVishnu giving away his sister, ceremoniously shown by the way of pouring water as part of the Kannikadanam, out of a pot.

Behind the wedding group is sculptured a beautiful decorative tree perhaps the Karpaga Vriksham presented to Meenakshi presented by Indra during her digvijayam. Shiva is an eternal bridegroom and Sakthi is the eternal bride.

 

There are in all eleven towers to this temple, the largest and most beautiful being the one on the southern doorway. Rising to a height of about 70 metres, this impressive ‘gopuram’ is by far the most ornate and florid of the Dravidian towers. It has nine stories and crowded with grinning gargoyles and gryphons that perch on the ornate curved edges.

The surface of the ‘gopurams’ on the southern door way is covered with plastic figures of deities and semi- divine characters, freely sculptured and drawn from Hindu mythology representing the appearance of a pulsating mass of masonry. With frequent renovations and additions being done down the centuries, there are more than 1,600 sculptured figures.

If the temples of South India were to be represented by a symbol or an insignia, the Temple Tower or the Gopuram will, by far, be the obvious choice. Sculptor’s talent was showcased in its Mandapams and also History and Divine Stories were recorded for posterity. They carried a wealth of Puranic representation and history of the time in the form of stuccoes.

 

It was in this pond that the Golden Lotus for Indra to perform his pooja bloomed. This pond is also known as Adhi Theertham, Sivaganga and Uthama Theertham. This pond is situated within the temple complex. This theertham was created by Lord Sivaperuman by thrusting his Soolam (three ptonged spear) into the earth in deference to the plea of Nandhi Devar and other deities.

This pond is believed tyo have acted as the judge in deciding the aestheric merit of any literary work during the Sangam Period. A plank carrying the literary work would float if acceptable and sink if not worthy. The corridors around the pond have mural paintings of colorful depiction of the divine sports of Lord Sundareshwarar.

Since this theertam was created before all other theerthams it is called Adhi Theertham and because it is much greater importance than all other theerthams, it is also called Parama Theertham as Gnana Theertham because it confers prosperity on all who bathe in it. As it grants heavenly abode it is also called Mukthi Theertham and as Sivaganga because the water from Ganga from the head of Lord Siva confluences with it and as Uthama Theertham because of its purity than any other theertham.

If the devotees bathe in the waters of this pond of Golden Lotus on Amavasya (new moon) day, the first day of the month, days of eclipse and other auspicious days and worship the Lord, they will be blessed with all their aspirations for success.

Inside the 1000 Pillared Mandapam:

The greatest part of the entire temple is this Thousand Pillar Mandapam. It can be said that no other grand structure has been made since this was built. The sheer largeness of the hall and the towering pillars make visitors gape in awe.

The Thousand pillared Mandapam is a huge edifice occupying an area of 60,000 square feet.

The Statue shown standing opposite the dance guru Arjuna as a transgender(in the story of Mahabharata), is Uthirai, his disciple. As she dances she is seen holding the tassel at the end of her neatly long hair, with elegance. One would keep staring at this figure for ths sheer engaging beauty of its crown, the jewelry and the lovely dress.

The above sculpture shows Shiva’s right hand has an arrow with Lord Vishnu’s face as its centre. It is shown as virtually carrying fire at edge.

The Top left sculpture which is Lord Muruga with four arms riding his peacock is something wondeful in the 1000 pillar mandapam. The spirited image is full of action and shows that He is going to war. The back hands possess Sakthi and thunderbolt. The front right hand is held aloft as if commanding while the front left holds the reins of the peacock.

The Top right sculpture is of a Hunter with bow on his shoulders.

Thadagathai went on her venture, waged battles and won even supernatural beings(Devas), and turned her attention to Lord Shiva who was on Mount Kailash and invited him for a battle. This statue shows Lord Shiva in a ready to go state. His hands are holding the deer, the tomahawk, the bow with its arrows and is in the form of Thribanga(three bends) putting one foot forward and is in the Aaalida move as shown above.

The high point of Meenakshi temple is its celebrated ” Court of Thousand Pillars “. Built around the year 1560A.D ., it is a great work of structural engineering as well as sculpture and art. Every one of its thousand pillars is subjected to an amazing variety of ornate carvings. the sculptured figures of a nomadic tribe called Kuravi and his wife at the entrance itself are very interesting. There is an eye-catching sculpture of a main carrying a woman on his shoulders . From any point inside the Hall of pillars, it presents a magnificient view.

The hall’s other statues explore the entire range of human emotions. Some of the sculptures are immense, the stone gleaming with the antic lustre.

 

Nandi Mandapa in front of the Sundaresshwar Shrine

One should remember that a Temple serves not only as a place of worship or an example of fine architecture; but also a piece of music and paintings. The Temple aging more than 2000 years and still standing strong to give devotees and visitors  truly a memorable and everlasting experience. Temples provide an excellent platform for Social Networking. Special Occasions were created that offered opportunities for people to meet to mingle in the temples.

This ends my short yet sacred visual travel to the Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple, Tamil Nadu. Hope the readers like the post and make it a point in their life time to visit and experience the divinity within.

Whatever efforts I have put in to present is just a gist of this Great Temple of Madurai Meenakshi. However, when one visits this temple physically, there is no doubt in having a breath taking view of this amazing temple, architecture, art and culture.

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