The land of
Madurai might be a chaotic city now, but if we dive into the past, it comes
with a million tales of great kingdoms and civilizations to cherish. The famous
Meenakshi Amman Temple at the centre of the city is one of the oldest temple in
India. Meenakshi Amman Temple is also called as Meenakshi Sundareshwarar Temple
in Tamil. The six main things to know before you visit the temple are:
1. This temple was nominated to be a part of the 7 World Wonders but didn’t
make it to the list. This building sure needs to be in the list for its impact
on Indian history.
2. According to some sources, this building temple might date back to the 1st
century AD. Some scholars argue it might be even older, as old as the city that
it stands today.
3. The
story of Kulashekara Pandian’s dream starts with him getting a dream about
building a temple at the heart of the city. In this dream, Lord Shiva
instructed him on how to build the temple for him and Meenakshi.
4. This
Temple served as a place of worship and a gathering point for scholars to talk
about the country's development. It was confirmed after researching some texts
from 6th century.
5. The
Delhi Sultanate's invasion in the 14th century left the Temple in ruins, so it
was rebuilt in the 16th century by the Vijayanagar Kingdom. After Vijayanagar
Kingdom, it was the Nayaka Dynasty who expanded the temple even further. One
main king who was well interested in architecture was Thirumalai Nayakar. After
this, the East India company closed the temple when they were in power. This
caused even more damage to the Temple. The final restoration works were carried
out until 1995.
The 16th century Vijayanagar Temple is speaking many tales. Imagine
what could have been told if we still had the Pandian era Temple.
6. Every
temple has its own mythology which is connected deeply with the carved walls of
the Temple. Meenakshi Amman Temple cherishes one which has to be addressed.
It is said that Sundareshwar, the handsome form of Shiva married, an avatar of
Parvati at the site of the Temple.
The Legend also states that many centuries ago, a Pandian King named
Malayadwaja and his wife Kanchanamalai were childless. The urge to have a boy
as their heir to the Kingdom made them to pray to Lord Shiva for an heir. They
conducted a sacred fire and prayed constantly, hoping to get an answer from the
god. But to their surprise, a three-year-old girl with three breasts came out
of the fire. The king was shocked at what he was seeing, but a divine voice
calmed him down, stating that the girl's third breast would vanish when she
meets her suitor. This girl was Meenakshi, an avatar of Parvati who became a
successor of the king and ruled over ancient Madurai. She was an incredible
ruler of the kingdom and was said that she even captured Indralok and was on
her way to Capture Kailash. Shiva came to her before she could reach the place.
When she saw Shiva, her third breast vanished, and she found her suitor. Both
of them came down to Madurai and married at the place where the Temple stands
today. This marriage is celebrated in Madurai every year as Thirukalyanam. This
Mythology proves how we respect Meenakshi and this is shown by building the
main sanctum for Meenakshi in the Temple.
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