Madurai Meenakshi Temple

As the name suggests the temple is located at Madurai, which is about is about 480 Kms from Chennai. Many a visitor says that Madurai is more representative of Tamil Culture than Chennai.

One feels the pulse of Tamil Nadu in Madurai. On every street you see temples everywhere big and small. But the biggest of them all is Meenkshi Temple. In fact life revolves around the temple.The Meenakshi temple is one of the wonders of India.

The main deity is Meenakshi who is the consort of Lord Shiva. The temple is said to have been built over a period from the 12th and the 18th century.This temple is a splendid example of Dravidian architecture built during the reign of Tirumalai Nayak. There are 4 big gopurams or towers and 8 smaller gopurams. The heights of the gopurams range from 45m to 50m .The gopurams are beautifully constructed and very symmetrical with intricate artwork. They are adorned with colourful figures of gods, goddesses and animals. The tallest gopuram is the southern tower and this has over 1500 figures.

There are many temple festivals celebrated throughout the year at the temple.The most important festival is the Chitirao Festival held in April/May of every year which celebrates the celestial wedding of the fish eyed goddess Meenakshi with Lord Sundareswarar.

The Golden Lotus Tank or the Pottramaikulam with arcades allaround is situated within the temple. This is where the Sangam used to meet to dicuss the literary merits of the various work presented to them.

The Thousand Pillar Hall which dates form the 16^th century is found near the east Tower.

The columns are exquisitely carved and are carvings of Shiva riding a peacock, Parvati playing the Veena,a musical instrument ,etc. There is a fine Temple art Museum within the temple .There is a cluster of five musical pillars near the Museum which produces different musical notes when tapped..

For people who are interested in a bit of shopping, there is a amazing variety to choose from! From beautiful wooden toys, dolls to other trinkets, one can find them all here, and very cheap also. There are cookery sets made of wood, very brightly colored for people with little girls.