Madurai Meenakshi Temple

This write up is a feature on the Madurai Meenakshi temple. The size of this temple amazes me. And therefore, decided not to make it a part of the Madurai travelogue, but, cover it separately.

Madurai city is famous for its Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple and the Jasmine flowers.

The Pandyan King Kulasekarar built a great temple and created a lotus shaped city around it, which is the modern day Madurai. Concentric rectangular streets surround the temple, symbolizing the structure of the cosmos.

The enormous temple complex is dedicated to Shiva, known 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.

The temple complex is within a high-walled enclosure, at the core of which are the two sanctums for Meenakshi and Sundareshwara, surrounded by a number of smaller shrines and grand pillared halls.

Especially impressive are the 12 gopuras. Their soaring towers rise from solid granite bases, and are covered with stucco figures of dieties, mythical animals and monsters painted in vivid colours.

Temple Towers - There are 12 temple towers(Gopurams). The outer towers are the landmarks of Madurai. They are:

1. East Tower (Nine Storeys). Height 161'3". This Gopura has 1011 sudhai figures. 2. South Tower (Nine Storeys). Height 170'6". This Tower has 1511 sudhai figures. 3. West Tower (Nine Storeys). Height 163'3". This Tower has 1124 sudhai figures. 4. North Tower (Nine Storeys). Height 160'6". This Tower has lesser figures of sudhai than other outer towers.

These towering gateways indicate the entrance to the temple complex at the four cardinal points, while lesser gopuras lead to the sanctums of the main dieties.

Ashta Shakthi Mandapam - A visitor who enters the temple through the eastern gateway, first enters this Mandapam(Hall). It was built by Thirumalai Nayakar's wives Rudrapathi Ammal and Tholimamai. In this hall food was once distributed to the devotees who came from far off places.

Meenakshi Nayakkar Mandapam - This big hall is adjacent to Ashta Shakthi Mandapam, consisting of 110 pillars carrying the figures of a peculiar animal with a lion's body , and an elephant's head called Yalli. It is used for shops and stores. And this hall has a votive lamp-holder with 1,008 lamps, which are lit on festive occasions and present a spectacular sight
The sculptures on the pillars here relate some of Lord Shiva's Thiruvilayadals (miracles) and also the story of Meenakshi's birth and her life as the princess of Madurai.

Potramaraikulam (Golden Lotus tank) - This temple tank is an ancient tank where devotees take bath in the holy water. The area around this tank was the meeting place of the Tamil Sangam - the ancient academy of poets.

Oonjal Mandapam - The Oonjal (swing) Mandapam and Killikoontu (parrot cage) Mandapam are on the western side of the tank. Every Friday, the golden idols of Meenakshi and Sundareswarar are seated on the swing in the Oonjal Mandapam and hymns are sung as the deities gaily swing to and fro.

The parrots in the Kilikoontu Mandapam have been trained to repeat Meenakshi's name. But more interesting are the 28 pillars of the mandapam which exhibit some excellent Sculptures of figures from Hindu mythology.

Swami Sundareswarar Shrine - Lord Sundareswarar (Shiva) the consort of Goddess Meenakshi is to the north of Kilikoontu Mandapam . On your way you can worship a gigantic idol of Sri Ganesh called Mukkurini Pillaiyar. When the king Thirumalai Nayakar excavated a temple tank 3 km from Meenakshi temple he unearthed this idol of Vinayaka and erected the same here.

In the outer pragaram (corridor outside the main shrine) there is stump of the kadamba tree, which is said to be a part of the same tree under which Indra worshipped Shiva linga.

Also in the outer corridor there are the Kadambathadi Mandapam and big hall called Velli Ambalam. Here, an idol of Nataraja (Shiva as the Lord of Dance) is seen. This idol of Nataraja is covered with silver leaves. Hence this hall is named as Velli Ambalam (Silver Hall)..

The Thousand Pillar Mandapam - It is the 'wonder of the palace'. Actually the number of pillars count to 985 beautifully decorated columns. 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. There are so many other smaller and bigger mandapams in the temple.

The thousand pillar mandapam is supposed to have been built by Arya Natha Mudaliyar , the Prime Minister of the first Nayaka of Madurai (1559-1600 A.D.) and the founder of 'Poligar System'. An equestrian statue of the Mudaliyar flanks one side of the steps leading to the 'mandapam'.

Just outside this mandapam ,towards the west, are the Musical Pillars. Each pillar when stuck, 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 Chitirai Festival in mid- April.

Vasantha Mandapam - This mandapam was built by Thirumalai Nayakkar. Vasanthosavam - the Spring festival-is celebrated in this mandapam in Vaikasi (April/May). Its pillars contain elaborate sculptures of Shiva, Meenakshi, scenes from their wedding as well as the figures of ten of the Nayak Kings and their consorts. This is also called Pudhu Mandapam.

The hall's other statues explore the entire range of human emotions. In the corner is the statue of the fierce Bhadrakali. Small balls of butter are hurled at the deity by the devotees to appease her anger.

The monolith figure of Rati(goddess of love) is a marvellous sculpture. The slightly elongated Pandyan beauty wears large earings. Her arms, neck, waist, bosom and feet are encrusted with swirls over thighs, calf muscles and ankles. She has long hair done in a loose knot. She sits astride a swan. The foot of the flag shaft is guilded with gold and faces the shrine directly.
Being in the heart of Tamilnadu, Madurai has fostered through centuries, an essentially Dravidian and Tamil culture. It was in Madurai that three successful Tamil academies, known as Sangams flourished under the benevolent royal support.

Madurai is famed as one of the five traditional dance halls of Shiva where in his aspect as Nataraja, he is standing on the right foot, while in all other four halls, he is standing on his left foot. The famous hall ,is known as the 'Rajatha Sabha' {Silver Hall) or Vasantha Mandapam, as contrasted with 'Ponnambalam', the 'Hall of Gold' in Chidambaram.

The Sangam period poet Nakkeerar is associated with some of the Thiruvilayaadal episodes of Sundareswarar - that are enacted as a part of temple festival traditions even today.

Additions were made to the temple several times, and it was also renovated several times. During the year 1960A.D., some of these figures were completely rebuilt and painted with gorgeous colours at great cost by Nattukottai Chettis. The northern 'gopuram' long known as "Mettai " is no there longer since a courageous Chetty endowed it with the plaster top; still it carried terracotta figures.

No one enters or leaves the temple by the eastern tower which has become a taboo since a temple employee flung himself down from its top in the reign of Chokkanatha nayaka as a protest against an unjust levy. Visitors generally enter by the Ashta Lakshmi Mandapam.

An interesting incident is revealed by the local people which happened during the time of renovation work in 1923 A.D. While depicting the coronation of Meenakshi, the artist out of his own imagination included the figure of Mahatma Gandhi among the figures of audience. Some British officers who noticed it seem to have taken objection to it. It is understood that the figure of Gandhi was altered to depict a sage with a long beard.

Many festivals are celebrated in the Meenakshi temple which is known as the 'Temple of feasts'. The numerous festivals celebrated at the shrine almost around the year, represent the ideas and thoughts of the cultured and progressive people of that region in the field of philosophy, religion, science and art.
Click here to see the layout of the temple : http://www.madurai.com/layout.html

Getting there :

Air : Madurai has a airport.

Road : Madurai is well connected by Road from all the other major cities.

Rail : Madurai has a railway station

Trip Duration : 2 days

Getting Around : Autos or Taxis

Best time to get there : August to November

Accomodation :

Hotel Royal Court , 4, West VeliI Street, Madurai - 625 001 , Opp: Railway Station,
Phone: +91-452 - 5356666(Hunting Lines) , Fax: 0452 - 5373333 , Email: royalcourt@eth.net

Hotel Best Western Germanus, 28,Bypass Road, Arasaradi, Madurai-625 010, Phone : 91-452-2382001, Fax : 91-452-2381478

Hotel Madurai Residency, 15,West Marret Street, Madurai –1, Phone : 0452 2343140

Madura Park Inn, 38, Madakulam Main Road, Palanganatham, Madurai - 3., Phone:2371155

Taj Garden Retreat, Pasumalai Hill, Madurai-4 , Ph:2371601