Meenakshi Temple Madurai India

Meenakshi Temple Madurai South India

Sculptures inside the Meenakshi Temple Madurai

The Story depicted on the stones of the Meenakshi Temple is as follows

A king of Madurai, Malayadwaja Pandya, had been childless for a long time. He performed a number of sacrifices before a sacred fire to try and obtain an heir to his throne. On one occasion, a 3-year-old girl came out of the fire and Malayadwaja adopted her. But he was worried as the girl had three breasts. A divine voice assured him, however, that the third breast would disappear when she met her consort. The girl grew up to be a brave and beautiful princess who won many battles. But eventually she lost her heart to Lord Shiva, when she met him on the battlefield in Kailas. As soon as she cast eyes on him, her third breast disappeared and she recognized her divine consort, for the princess was none other than Parvati, Shiva's wife. They ruled together over the Pandya kingdom for a while, and then settled in the Madurai temple as Meenakshi and Sundareswarar.

Architecture

The Meenakshi temple complex is dedicated to Shiva, known here as Sundareshvara and his consort Parvati (also known as Meenakshi). The temple was originally built by Kulasekara Pandya, but the credit for the temple as it stands today in all its splendor goes to the Nayaks, who ruled Madurai from the 16th to the 18th century.

The temple complex is enclosed inside a high-walled enclosure, with two sanctums at its core for Meenakshi and Sundareshwara, surrounded by a numnerous smaller shrines and pillared halls. The 12 towers or gopuras are especially impressive. They rise from solid granite bases, and are covered with thousands of vividly painted stucco figures of deities, mythical animals and monsters.

There are 12 towers (Gopurams). The outer towers being landmarks of Madurai.

East Tower (9 Storeys) height 161'3" (approx. 53m.) with 1011 sudhai figures.
South Tower (9 Storeys), height 170'6" (approx. 56 m.) with 1511 sudhai figures.
West Tower (9 Storeys), height 163'3" (approx. 54 m.) with 1124 sudhai figures.
North Tower (9 Storeys), height 160'6" (approx. 53 m) less sudhai figures than the other outer towers.


Gopuras or pyramidal gates rise to a height of more than 50m. These gateways are the entrance to the temple complex at the 4 cardinal points, while smaller gopuras lead to the sanctums of the main dieties.

The figures of dieties are repaired, repainted and ritually re-consecrated every 12 years.