Madurai is the second largest city in Tamil Nadu, next
to Chennai. This interesting city has a good atmosphere and is a popular
place to visit. It is one of the oldest cities in India, over 2,500
years old. Madurai is situated on the banks of the Vaigai River.
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The highly impressive Meenakshi Temple is in the center of the
old town and is the main reason why people come here. An average
of 10,000 people visit daily. The foundation of the town and temple
were built by the Pandyan king, Kulasekhara. It is a place of
pilgrimage specifically meant for the devotees of Lord Siva, therefore
it is called Saivaksetra, the place where Lord Siva is worshiped.
Sri Chaitanya came here on his South India tour.
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The story of
the deities is that Meenakshi was born with three breasts out of
the yajna (sacrificial) fire that the Pandyan king, Malayadhwaja,
was performing to get a son. The king was told that one of the breasts
would disappear when Meenakshi met the man she would marry. It is
said that Meenakshi conquered the world defeating all the gods and
demons. She then set out to conquer Lord Siva. When she met Lord
Siva on Mt Kailash her third breast disappeared. Siva told her to
return to Madurai, and eight days later he arrived in the form of
Lord Sundareswar to marry her. Their wedding is celebrated in a
grant fashion every year in Madurai. |
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Meenakshi means "one who has eyes like a fish." Just
as a mother fish has to just glance on her spawn to develop life
in them, so in the same way her worshiper's spiritual life comes
alive when goddess Meenakshi glances at them.
This temple has two sanctuaries: one dedicated to Lord Siva as
Sundareswar ("Lord of Beauty") and the other to Meenakshi,
his wife. Every night at around 9.30 pm there is a dramatic ceremony
during which Lord Siva is carried into the bedroom of Parvati.
He is taken back to his temple around 6 am each morning.
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Madurai was the capital of the Pandyan Empire from the 4th century
till the 10th century. In the 10th century the Chola took over
Madurai. It was regained by the Pandyans in the 12th century and
they ruled it until the 14th century.
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Madurai was invaded by the
Delhi Sultanate in the 14th century and for a short time became
a Sultanate under Malik Kafur. Then it came under the control of
the Vijayanagar kingdom in the 15th and 16th centuries. During this
time the Meenakshi Temple was greatly expanded and some of the temple
towers were built. From 1599, Madurai was ruled by the Nayak dynasty.
Tirumala Nayak (1623-59) built the Raja Gopuram and Teppakkulam
tank. |
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In 1736 the East India Company
took control of Madurai. They torn down the city's walls and filled
in its moat. The moat used to be located where the Veli streets
are now and this marks the boundaries of the old city. |
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It is a huge temple, in which you can get lost.
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Tirumala Nayak built the present temple in the early 17th century,
but its history goes back to the Pandya kings, 2,000 years ago.
It has some of the most impressive gopurams (temple towers) in
India.
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It is estimated that there
are 33 million carvings in the temple. This temple has some of the
best architecture in India. About 10,000 people visit the temple
every day. Around 25,000 people come on Fridays, which is the day
sacred to Meenakshi. |
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The temple has a hall with a thousand pillars (actually 985).
There is an interesting art gallery and museum in this hall. The
museum can be visited while the temple is closed in the afternoon,
between 1 and 4 pm.
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The outer wall of the complex
is 259m by 221m (847 by 792 ft). The temple has 12 large gopurams,
or gates. The main entrance is on the eastern side of the temple.
There are four huge gopurams with beautifully painted colored statues
on the outer wall. The southern tower, built in the 16th century,
is the largest one and is 48.8 metres (170 ft) high with a 33m by
22m (108 by 67 ft) base. It has over 1,500 sculptures on it. There
are two huge yalis, which are like a combined lion and elephant,
on both sides of the tower |
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The inner sanctums are restricted to Hindus only, but everyone
can go anywhere else on the temple grounds. It is interesting
to visit the temple both during the day and at night, as the dark
corridors, with lamps burning here and there, are very impressive.
After taking a few pictures, one can be asked whether one had
a camera ticket, so it is best to pay in advance.
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The eastern gopuram, built
in the 13th century by Maravarman Sundara Pandyan, is the oldest
tower. The eastern gate, which in most temples is the main gate,
is never used. The reason for this is that one of the priests of
the temple jumped off this gopuram when the Palace officials levied
taxes on the temple servants. After this incident, the tax was immediately
stopped. The gate is supposed to be haunted by his ghost. |
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People instead enter to the left of the eastern tower directly
in line with the entrance to the Meenakshi Temple. There are beautiful
sculptures of Ganesh and Subrahmanya on the sides of this entrance.
There is also a scene of Sri Meenakshi's wedding. This entrance
leads to the Ashta Shakti Mandapa (Eight Goddesses Hall), where
there is an interesting market. There are sculptured pillars decorated
with carvings of the eight Shaktis (goddesses) and Siva's 64 miracles
performed at Madurai. There are also paintings in this hall that
depict the birth of Sri Meenakshi.
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There is a Jewel House next to where the vehicles of Meenakshi
and Sundareswar are kept. This impressive collection of jewelry
can sometimes be seen for a donation.
Between the north gopuram and the Thousand Pillar Hall on North
Adi Street there are five musical pillars, each made of 22 rods
carved out of a single block of granite. Each of the rods of the
pillars produces a different note when struck.
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The Portramaraikulam Tank
(Golden Lotus Tank), also called Swarnapushpakarini, is where Tamil
literature was presented and then put in the tank. The manuscripts
(in the past they were written on leaves) that floated were considered
great works of literature, and if they sank, they were dismissed.
Pilgrims either bathe, or wash their feet and hands in the tank
before entering the inner sanctum. |
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There is a daily Tour to Rameswaram that departs at 7.30 am and
returns around 6 pm. It goes to most of the major places and is
a convenient way to visit Rameswaram. You can arrange this tour
with local travel agencies. The tour bus picks you up at your
hotel. The Gandhi Museum is one of the best in India. It contains
the blood-stained dhoti worn by Gandhi when he was assassinated.
It also has an interesting History of India Display.
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Mariamman Teppakkulam Tank
This huge tank, 300m (1000 ft) by 285m (950 ft), is located 5km
east of the Meenakshi Temple. This is where the Teppam Float Festival
takes place, during which the deities are taken out on decorated
boats in Jan/Feb. The tank is fed water from the Vaigai River
through underground channels. It is usually only filled during
the Teppam Festival.
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While digging up the earth a huge Ganesh was found, which is
now installed at the entrance of the Sundareswar Temple, in the
Meenakshi Temple.
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Koodal Alagar
Temple
This is a Vishnu temple located 2km west of the city, that has three
altars, one on top of the other, in which Lord Vishnu is in three
different poses: sitting, standing, and reclining. The main deity
of the temple is Koodal Alagar, who is in a sitting posture. Above
the shrine of this deity are the altars of Sri Ranganatha, in a
reclining pose, and Sri Surya-narayan Perumal, in a standing pose.
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There are intricate woodcarvings here, including one of Lord
Rama's coronation. This is one of the 108 Divya Desam temples.
There is a Navagraha (nine planets) enclosure in this temple.
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Lord Alagar's (Vishnu) procession to the bank of the Vaigai
River on the full moon day is one of the most interesting events
of the festival. Lord Vishnu rides on a real-gold horse-chariot
to his sister's wedding. Meenakshi is considered to be the sister
of Lord Alagar.
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Alagar Koil (Azhagarkovil) Temple
Alagar Koil is an important Vishnu temple, 18km northeast of Madurai,
at Alagar Hill. Around the temple are ruins of an ancient fortified
town. The presiding deity is Alagar (the beautiful).
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Alagar Koil is one of the
most ancient temples in India. All twelve Alwars visited this place.
It is stated in the Mahabharata that both Yudhisthira and Arjuna
came here. |
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The processional deity,
Sundararaja, is made of very valuable gold called Aparanji gold.
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Alagar, who is Meenakshi's
brother, was supposed to give her away in marriage to Sundareswar,
but he arrived late for the wedding. This pastime is replayed at
the Chitrai Festival. On the fourth day of the nine-day Chitrai
Festival, Lord Alagar goes to Madurai to attend his sister Meenakshi's
wedding... |
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...This is a grand event
and hundreds of thousands of people attend this festival. The panels
in the Meenakshi Temple show carvings of Vishnu giving Meenakshi
away in marriage, thus telling a different story. |
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It is said that Koorattalwar,
the chief disciple of Ramanuja, got back his eyesight by worshipping
the deity here. |
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There is a shrine dedicated
to Lord Narasimha, known as Jwala Narasimha, located behind the
inner sanctum. Every day he is bathed with milk, curd (yogurt),
and other items to cool down his anger. There is a big opening in
the ceiling, just above his head, through which his anger and fury
can pass out. |
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There is a deity of Sudarsana-cakra
said to be 2,000 years old in this temple. There are temples on
the hill dedicated to Siva, Bhairava, Subrahmanya, and Vinayaka
(Ganesh). This place is one of the places dear to Subrahmanya. |
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Different forms of the Supreme
Lord - Matsya, Kurma, Nrsinha, Vamana, Krishna... |
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...and Sri Visnu lying on
the Ananta Sesa in Causal Ocean. |
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Non-Hindus are not allowed
in the temple, but converted Hindus may be allowed to enter the
temple. |
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Simple living... |
