Meenakshi temple – Madurai
Meenakshi temple is undoubtedly one of most popular and renowned places of worship in the country. Meenakshi temple is not only the pride of Tamil Nadu but this majestic architecture situated at Madurai illustrates the prosperity of 17th century. According to Hindu Mythology. Madurai is the place where Lord Shiva (Sundaershwar) and Goddess Parvati (Meenakshi) got married. This fort like temple is bounded by 6 meters high walls and consists of temples of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. The beautiful carvings and sculptures on the walls of temple will leave you spell bound.
Legends Galore
According to Hindu Mythology, once upon a time Kind Malaydvaja organized a yagna to delight almighty in order to receive blessings and to be gifted with a son. But from the sanctum flames of that yagna, a little girl came out who was actually the Goddess Meenakshi. The girl was amazingly beautiful with three breasts, which would vanish once she would get married. Goodness Meenakshi grew very strong and powerful, and initiated a crusade to rule the whole world. But when her army reached near mount Kailash, her force got the better of Lord Shiva’s army. And when Goddess Meenakshi saw Lord Shiva, her third breast got vanished. Eventually, Madurai was the place where they got married.
History and Architecture
Unfortunately, we do not have much information about this majestic temple, but it is mentioned in the writings of 17th century. In the 13th century, this beautiful temple was demolished by Muslim rulers but was again mended by Nayak rulers in the late 17th century and early 18th century. One can relish the bird’s eye view from the top of this temple. The whole temple comprises of huge collection of shrines with more than 33000 sculptures leaving the visitors spell bound. This mammoth sized temple has got 12 gopuras situated at the height of 46 meters.
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
June 03 2010 11:48 am | South India Temples
