Meenakshi Temple Tourist Attraction in Madurai
Sree meenakshi sundareswarar templeThe greatest temple of Madurai City is Sri Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple. It is about one killometre from the Madurai Railway Junction. This temple is rectangular in shape. Its length is about 847 feet and breadth about 792 feet. Five gopurams (tower) surround the temple. The tower on the south is the tallest of them. it rises to a height of 160 feet from the ground level.
In 1560, Viswanatha Naick laid the general plan of the temple. The outermost walls began to be constructed during his rule. The princess and the rich traders of the following generations showed great interest in completing the construction of the temple according to the original plan. It was Thirumalai Naick (1623 – 1659) who built the most beautiful and artistic parts of the temple.
This big temple is a twin temple. There is one temple on the south dedicated to Sree Meenakshi, the consort of Lord Sundareswarar (Shiva). It is believed the God under the form of Sundareswarar, married the daughter of the Pandyan King, Malayadhwajan. This king prayed to Lord Shiva for a child and made her come out of the divine fire as the little girl. This girl had three breasts. As commanded by the Voice of God, she was named Thadathagai. The king and the queen were also told by god that girl’s third breast would disappear the day she saw the man who was to be her husband.
The Sree Meenakshi temple has four big towers on its four sides. These form the entrance to the temple. However, the main entrance is by the Ashta Sakthi Mandapam on the east side. It is south of eastern tower. On the pillars on either side of this Mandapam, we find the figures of the eight (Ashta) goddesses, animals of many kinds and mythical figures. Many stories of Hindu mythology are told in the form of these figures.
Standing on the top of the southern tower, one can have a fine view of the
Sree Meenakshi temple, the towers, buildings and the distant hills. The northern tower is known as ‘Mottai gopuram’ or the tower without a peak. But this defect has been rectified recently. At the foot of this tower in side the temple we have the ‘Muscial Pillars’. Each pillar carved out of a single block of granite. There are 22 fine rods in each pillar. When these rods are tapped they emit musical sounds. Hence these pillars are called Musical pillars.
J.P. Lasrado Shenoy, who was for some time the Commissioner of Madurai Municipality, has commented in his book, Madurai, the temple city, that the arc bitecture of Sree Meenakshi Temple is purely Dravidian architecture. The tall pyramidal towers have bear the cause for such a conclusion. He has also remarked thus. The rectangular exclusion are one within another like a china box, the use of flat roof and the entire absence of the arch or dome delicate sculptures worked in ponderous material and finally a partially for long galleries interspersed with sculptured pillars.
Proceeding from the Ashta Sakthi Mandapam to the shrine of Sree Meenakshi one comes across the Golden Lily Tank (pottramaraikulam). We see the gigantioc South tower in the background. Pious Hindus consider the Golden Lily Tank very holy. There are broad corridors round the tank. Paintings from Hindu mythology and verses from the Tamil Classic Tirukkural, find a place on the walls of these corridors.
Just beyond the tank is the entrance of Sree Meenakshi Sannathi (spot facing the shrine). The entrance is guarded by two huge “Dwarebalagas” (door keepers). The sundareswarar Sannathi is also surrounded by a big corridor. At the entrance to this Sannathi find some of the liveliest sculptures ever carved by human hands. The hall, where these sculptures stand, is known as the Kambathadi Mandapam.
Going eastward from the Sundareswarar Sannathi to the exit, we come across the Thousand Pillar Hall. This gigantic hall is indeed a treasure house of art. Dalavai Ariyanatha Mudaliyar, who was minister to four successive Naick rulers, built this imposing structure. There are only 984 pillars in this hall, measuring 250 feet by 240 fee, two small temples stand on the space for the remaining 16 pillars. In this hall there are extremely fine sculptures. They speack of the highly artistic tradition of Tamil Nadu. A temple Art Museum is situated in this hall.
Entrance fees at Meenakshi Temple
There is no entrance fee to visit the Meenakshi Temple.
However for Meenakshi Amman Tharshan you can Either Have VIP Tharishanam or Fast Track Tharishanam.
Meenakship Amman VIP Tharshan Fee: Rs 500.00
Meenakshi Temple Fast Track Tharshan Fee: Rs 100.00
Meenakshi Aarathanai (Pooja with garland) Fee: Rs 15.00
Please you can use the Public Access way also, but normally it is very crowded especially on Friday, Saturday and Sundays. You may need to stand in queue, sometime more than 45 minutes- 2 hrs.
Reference:
Madurai Meenakshi Temple
Pandiya Kingdom
Silappathikaram
