மீனாட்சி சுந்தரேசுவரர் திருக்கோயில் மதுரை
Perhaps the most celebrated temple in Tamil Nadu and one of the most recognized in the whole of India, is this vast twin temple complex dedicated to the Goddess Parvati and Lord Siva. It is one the largest temple complexes in Tamil Nadu. Commonly referred to as the Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple, it is well known as a Sakthi Peedam but it is also a very important Sivasthalam. It is visited by millions of people every year and many readers of this blog would have visited this temple at some point in their lives or would have heard about it.
The temple is quite ancient and it has existed since Sangam times. The temple is synonymous with the city of Madurai, a city that was known to the ancient Greeks and Romans. It was the capital city of the Pandian kings over several centuries. The city appears to have been built with the temple at its centre. In olden times, it had names like Aalavai (ஆலவாய்) and Koodal (கூடல்).
It is a Paadal Petra Sthalam and the first in the Pandian country. Thirugnanasampanthar, Thirunavukkarasar and Manickvasagar have sung hymns in praise of the Lord here. It is one the temples where Lord Nataraja performed his cosmic dance and is one of the Pancha Sabhas. It is the Velli Sabha or the Hall of Silver. Here, the Lord poses with his right leg raised as opposed to the customary left leg that is raised.
Although the temple and the site are quite ancient, most of the structures, sculptures and other art works that are seen today only date back to the 17th century. Rebuilt in the 13th century by Kulasekara Pandian, the temple was ransacked by the forces of Alauddin Khilji of the Delhi Sultanate in the early 14th century. Malik Kafur the ruthless general of Alauddin Khilji led an expeditionary force to Madurai in 1310 and laid waste to everything that lay in his path to Madurai. Many temples were plundered and ransacked. The Meenakshi Amman temple was almost completely destroyed. Several other invasions occurred over the next decade and finally a Sultanate was established at Madurai that was known as the Sultanate of M'bar. For the next half a century the great temple of Madurai lay in ruins. Its great towers served as gallows for some time. In 1375 The Vijayanagar prince Kumara Kampanna, son of Bukka I, and able general led a force to Madurai and freed the city and the temple. What remained of the temple was cleaned up and it started to function again. In the late 1500s the first Nayakkan king, Visvanatha Nayakkar and his able Tamil general and minister Ariyanatha Mudaliar laid the foundation for the new temple that we see today. The majority of the work was completed by Thirumalai Nayakkar between 1623 and 1655.
Today the beautiful temple complex boasts 14 tall gopurams that dominate the skyline of the city of Madurai. They range in height from 45 to 52 meters. There are an estimated 33,000 exquisite sculptures from the Nayakkan period with many granite works as well as hundreds of colourful stucco figures that adorn the gopurams. The Thousand Pillared Hall is a treat to the eyes.
A visit to the temple these days is marred by the oppressive security measures in place. Security is important but should be carried out in a way that is unobtrusive to the temple goer. The temple, like most other temples in Tamil Nadu, is under the control of the inept HR and CE wing of the Government of Tamil Nadu.
We visited in January 2005, July 2012 and August 2019.
Credits: Google Maps
Comments