Meenakshi Temple, Madurai
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Meenakshee Amman, the mother Meenakshi is the reigning deity
of Madurai. Located on the banks of Vaigai river, the massive expanse and aura
of this temple is unmatchable in India.
Meenakshee here is manifestation of Uma, the eternal wife of
Mahadev. Meenakshee, as the name suggests has eyes competing with shape of
fish, is the beautiful daughter of King Malaydhwaj and queen Kanchanmaala. This
princess conquered mount Kailash and
married Sundaresh, a manifestation of Shiva. As per legend, both of them
entered the temple and blessed it with their presence as Meenakshi and
Sundaresh, Shakti and Shiva !
Spread over 15 acres,
the temple complex consists of 14 Gopur or Entrances, separate Mennkashi
and Sunderesh temples, temple tank and several halls lined with exquisite
sculptures and pillars.
Madurai in Tamilnadu, former capital of Pandya dynasty is
the epitome of Tamil culture, As much as it is famous for the temple, it was also
a prominent seat of power of Pandya kingdom. Madurai is famous for its cotton,
silk and metal trade since last many centuries.
City of Madurai and temple of
Meenakshi both have ancient origins, going back at least 2000 years. The Meenakshi Temple was built between
1190 and 1205 AD on the banks of the Vaigai River in a forest of Kadamba trees.
The builder of this temple, King Sadayavarma Kulasekhara of the Pandya dynasty,
was a great lover of art. He is praised in Sangam literature as a great poet
and a saintly king. Sadayavarma Kulasekhar's poetic composition 'Ambikai Malai'
is available. Sadayavarma Kulasekhar built a modest Meenakshi temple and a
water tank on a vast land. In the following years, different kings built other
temples and gopurams on this almost fifteen area.
Malik Kafur plundered and destroyed this abode of Shakti during one of his deccan invasions in 14’th century. The temple was later rebuilt and enhanced by Vijayanagar kings and Nayak kings of 16’th century.
Architecture
The Pandya dynasty took their kingdom to the peak of glory by trading
extensively around the world. They encouraged the education and development of
various arts. While studying ancient Indian life many times we come across a
term ‘Sangam literature’. Sangam means a meeting, conference or a confluence.
The Pandya kings organized gatherings of Tamil writers. In these conferences,
writers would introduce their writings to everyone and scholars would discuss
them. The revised editions prepared from these would be considered literary
works. All this Sangam literature is useful today for us to understand Indian
history.
Such visionary and skillful
rulers built very beautiful temples. They developed temples as places for
cultural, social, educational and economic activities of the society. From
around the 8th to 9th centuries AD, temples in India became more than just shrines,
but the basis of social order. The many temples built by the Pandya dynasty are
a good example of this. Like, Kumbhakonam, Thiru Annamalai, Trichy,
Kalugumalai, Tiruvellarai, Tirumalapuram, Kunnakudi, Nalaiappa Temple
Tirunelveli, many names can be mentioned. The Vettuvan Kovil at Tuthukudi,
carved out of a single rock like the monolithic Kailas cave temple in Ellora,
was built by the Pandya kings.
Salient features of Pandya period temple architecture -
The Pandya kings, by
building magnificent temples, helped develop the concept of ‘Mandir Gram’ or
Temple Town. This was also done by their contemporaries, the Cholas, Cheras and
other kings, which shows the common cultural thinking among the ancient Indian
kings. During the Pandyas' reign, separate pavilions were built in temples for
various events. Thus, there were dance pavilions for the presentation of
cultural programs, Bhog pavilions were built for the preparation of food
offerings. Pathshala and Yajnashala
for education and Kalyan Mandap are made
in their temples for naming ceremony - Namkaran - Upanayan - marriage -
Vivaha rituals. Since this temple is
conceived as the palace of God, the ruler of the village and the ruler of the
universe, the design of these temples is very grand like a palace! A king's daily life is filled with grand ceremonies,
just like the gods here. They also have beautifully decorated palanquins and
chariots.
The gopuras of the temples
built by the kings of the Chola dynasty are decorated with carved designs but
are lower in height than the spire of the main temple. The Pandya kings,
however, built very tall gopuras, even taller than the spire, adorned with
numerous idols, sculptures and carvings. These tall gopuras at the entrance
began to be used as buildings on a large scale during the Pandya period. This
was an important milestone in Dravidian temple architecture. The main reason
why most of the Pandyan temples are small and compact is the antiquity of the
original temple! If the main temple, the spire on it and the assembly hall in
front are very ancient, then it is necessary to preserve its sanctity. Then the
Pandyan rulers thought it appropriate to repair the original temple and build
other grand structures in the form of gopuras.
Meenakshi Temple is no exception. The original temple is small but the
various pavilions, tanks, ramparts and gopuras around it are magnificent.
Meenakshi Temple has a total of fourteen gopuras.
The temple town of Madurai
is built according to the ‘Nandyavarta’ type of city plan. In the chapter of
city planning in Vastu Shastra, different types of plans and their uses are
given.
One of them is ‘Nandyavarta’. According to this Nandyavarta plan, a
square-shaped temple should be built in the middle of the village and a space
should be provided for social gathering. From that place, large roads should be
built leading to four main and four sub-directions. Small roads connecting them
should lead to the houses in an orderly manner. The shape of such a village can
be square or round. The village deity and - or the favourite deity of the
people should be in the middle of the
village. Such a structure makes it easy to move around the village to different
places and increases efficiency. Vastu Shastra gives such guidance while
providing information about the Nandyavarta town structure.
It is evident that the Pandya king Sadayavarma Kulasekhara must have appointed a learned and skilled architect to design the city of Madurai, which was a major center of literature, culture and trade.
The Meenakshi Temple, which brings together the Shaivite, Vaishnava and Shakta sects, is built on almost seventeen acres. Here, the names Sundareshwar for Shiva and Meenakshi for Parvati are prevalent. The oldest gopura of the Sundareshwar temple was built by Sadayavarma Kulasekhara. The entrance gate or a Gopura called Chitra Gopura was built by Pandya king Maravarma Sundar and has unique carvings. Kadka Gopura, the five-storeyed gateway to the Meenakshi Temple, was built by the Tumpichi Nayak king in the 16th century. The original gopura was destroyed during the attack of Malik Kafur.
A Ganesh temple was built later in the space between the Meenakshi and Sundareshwar temples. Its gopuras are called Nadukattu, Idaikattu. The Nayak Gopura, built by Vishvappa Nayak of the Nayak dynasty in 1530 AD, is similar to the Palahai Gopura here. The Mottai Gopura had no spire for 300 years. The kings of Vijayanagar and the Nayak dynasty completed the work. During the Maratha Empire, stucco work was done on it using lime, bricks, and clay.
All these gopuras have stairs to go up from inside. There are large halls above. They were used for various cultural and educational purposes in the past.
Madurai has created a unique
and extraordinary invention of Dravidian style architecture. This temple, which
has been worshipped for at least a thousand years, has set before us a tangible
example of progress in various fields such as ancient Indian sculpture,
literature, art, architecture, mathematics, engineering.
Literature
Meenakshi means Goddess Parvati and Soma Sundareshwar means
Lord Shiva! The Sanskrit text Halasya Mahatmya describes the Leela’s of Lord
Shiva; especially the pastimes of Shiva in Madurai. This is a Sanskrit
translation of the original Tamil Purana Tiruvilaiyadal.
These Leelas were narrated by Lord Subrahmanyam to Sage
Agastya and he narrated them to others. This book tells us the story of why and
how Soma Sundareswara chose Madurai as his abode. This Purana is written by
Perumparapuriyur Nambi!
Rituals and Festivals
The wedding ceremony of Meenakshi Devi and Sundareshwar is
celebrated with great enthusiasm in the temple in Madurai. Devotees and
tourists from all over the world come to enjoy this festival.
This union of Shiva and Shakti is not an ordinary marriage
but a supernatural ceremony. Shiva and Shakti have been duly glorified by the
great poet Kalidasa as the guardians of the world.
वागर्थाविव सम्पृक्तौ वागर्थप्रतिपत्तये। जगतः पितरौ वन्दे
पार्वतीपरमेश्वरौ ।।
Madurai - This
pilgrimage has sweetness in its name! This place is blessed with the
supernatural touch of Lord Shiva and the supernatural birth story of Goddess
Meenakshi!
The birth stories of the gods are as supernatural as they
are! Meenakshi was the daughter of the Pandya king Malayadhwaj Pandyan and
queen Kanchana Malai. This royal couple had to be deprived of child happiness
for a long time. To get a child, the king Malayadhwaj performed special worship
and prayed. During the yagna, a 3-year-old girl came out of the fire who had
three breasts. At that time, a divine voice came from the sky that this girl
was an incarnation of Shiva's wife Parvati and that when she became young for
marriage, Shiva himself would come to accept her . Meenakshi started
growing day by day.
Meenakshi was trained in warfare and after the death of her
father, she was crowned as the queen of the Pandya kingdom. She conquered the
entire world with her war skills and she attacked Mount Kailash to conquer the
abode of Shiva. When Meenakshi faced Shiva on the battlefield, she fell in love
with him and realized that she was a form of Parvati. After meeting Shiva in person, her third
breast automatically fell off. Lord Shiva assured Meenakshi that he would come
to Madurai to marry her and their divine marriage ceremony took place there .
As promised, Shiva, along with all the gods and sages, came to Madurai. Shiva,
in the form of Sundareshwar, married Meenakshi and ruled the Pandya kingdom as
Sundar Pandyan. Since then, the temple of Shiva is in Madurai and is known as
Soma Sundareshwar.
After the wedding ceremony, Meenakshi and Sundareshwar go to
meet their devotees in a chariot. Kalajagar Dev is an incarnation of Vishnu. He
is Meenakshi's brother. He is not able to attend Meenakshi's wedding and then
he meets the newlyweds on the banks of the Vaigai river and gives them gifts
and wishes them well for their marriage. That is why the practice of performing
the marriage rites in the presence of Meenakshi and Sundareshwar in this temple
for centuries is seen here!
The Golu/Kolu festival celebrated in South India
during the Sharad Navratri period is an exhibition of the doll. The Golu is set
up in the Meenakashi temple and various mythological stories are presented
through puppets, dolls. The puppets made
of paper pulp, clay, and wood are arranged in a step-by-step arrangement, which
is a special feature of this Golu festival.
What is ancient is found in the scriptures and what is new
is revealed to the devotees in the form of these festivals even in modern
times. Lord Meenakshi and Sundareshwar give us the opportunity to experience
the stories of Puranas in our life.
Watch the wedding ceremony of Meenakshi and Sundareshwar at
this link.
Legends and Anecdotes
·
Meenakshi idol is beautiful black granite
sculpture. There is a parrot on her right shoulder of Meenakshi, here parrot
symbolises love and wisdom.
·
As per the temple legend, Bhagvan Vishnu is
Meenakshi’s brother
Epilogue
Meenakshi temple of Madurai is spiritual representation of love and valor,
sanctity of marriage and reigning over kingdom of devotees, both at the same
time. Although not a Shaktipeeth, this temple is equally powerful and elegant
manifestation of divine womanhood.
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