Meenachi Amman Temple @ Madurai

                       Coodinates: 9.9195° N, 78.1193° E                                         

 The Temple is Historic Place located in River Bank of Vaikai(@Madurai).This temple is dedicated to the Godess Meenachi and God Sundhareshwarar.It is present in the heart of madurai. The temple forms the heart and lifeline of the 2500 year old city of Madurai.    In this place Birth of Tatatagai was occur, who is Daughter of second Pandya king Malayadwaja Pandya . The Lingam workshiped in this temple is  swayambu lingam (self formed lingam, a representation of Shiva used for worship in temples).



History
 
This temple was built by survivors of the Kumari Kandam.This temple is orginally built in 6th century.It is the one of the oldest temple in  the Tamilnadu . In the 14th century, the Sultanate Muslim Commander Malik Kafur plundered the temple and looted it of its valuables. It was rebuilt by the Nayak ruler Vishwanatha Nayakar around the 16th century. It was Vishwanatha Nayak who rebuilt the temple in accordance to shilpa shastra.  It has 14 gopuram  ranging from 45–50m in height. The tallest is the southern tower, 51.9 metres (170 ft) high,and two golden sculptured vimanas, the shrines over the garbhagrihas (sanctums) of the main deities.

The temple is surrounded by gopurams (gateway tower), There are 14 gopuram the tallest of which, the famous southern tower, rises to over 170 ft (52 m) and was built in 1559. The oldest gopuram is the eastern one, built by Maravarman Sundara Pandyan during 1216-1238 Each gopuram is a multi-storeyed structure, covered with thousands of stone figures of animals, gods and demons painted in bright hues. The outer gopuram presents steeply pyramidal tower encrusted with plaster figures, while the inner gopuram serves as the entrance to the inner enclosure of Sundareswarar shrine.

Hall of Thousand Pillars

1000 pillar hall

The Meenakshi Nayakkar Mandapam ("Hall of 1000 pillars") has two rows of pillars carved with images of yali (mythological beast with body of lion and head of an elephant), commonly used as the symbol of Nayak power. It is situated to the north of Sundareswarar flag staff hall. The Thousand Pillar Hall contains 985 (instead of 1000) carved pillars. The hall was built by Ariyanatha Mudaliar in 1569 and blends engineering skill and artistic vision. Ariyanatha Mudaliar was prime minister and general of Viswanatha Nayak, the first Nayaka of Madurai (1559–1600). He was also the founder of Poligar System, the quasi-feudal organization of the country dividing it into multiple palayams or small provinces in which each palayam was ruled by a palayakkarar or a petty chief. At the entrance of the hall is the statue of Ariyanatha Mudaliar seated on a horse-back, flanking one side of the entrance to the temple. The statue is periodically garlanded by worshippers. Each pillar in the hall is a carved monument of the Dravidian sculpture. The more prominent among the carved figures are those of Rati (wife of Kama), Karthikeya, Ganesha, Shiva as a wandering mendicant and endless number of yalis (mythical figures of lions). There is a Temple Art Museum in the hall where icons, photographs, drawings, and other exhibits of the 1200 years old history of the temple are displayed.


Architecture

plan of Meenachi Temple

 The temple is in the shape of Square.It is made up of high Masonary walls.It is one of the few temples in Tamil Nadu to have four entrances facing four directions. Vishwantha Nayaka allegedly redesigned the city of Madurai in accordance with the principles laid down by the Shilpa Shastras (Sanskrit: śilpa śāstra, also anglicized as silpa sastra meaning the rules of architecture) relevant to urban planning. The city was laid out in the shape of square with a series of concentric streets culminating from the temple. These squares continue to retain their traditional names, Aadi, Chittirai, Avani-moola and Masi streets, corresponding to Tamil month names.
Ancient Tamil classics mention that the temple was the center of the city and the streets happened to be radiating out like a lotus and its petals. The temple prakarams (outer precincts of a temple) and streets accommodate an elaborate festival calendar in which dramatic processions circumambulate the shrines. The vehicles used in the processions are progressively more massive the further they travel from the centre.

 Sprawled in an area of 45 acres, the temple complex comprises not less than twelve superlative gopurams (towers), which are richly sculptured and decorated. The tallest tower rises to the extent of 170 feet. The main sanctum sanctorum is believed to be more than 3500 years old. The fortifications and other outer construction are estimated to be 1500-2000 years old. The colossal structure of the temple has got the dimensions of 254 by 237 meters.

Having history of thousands of years, the present structure of the temple got erected in the early 17th century. Aayiram Kaal Mandapam is a thousand pillared hall, which is prominent due to its class sculptures. The hall is truly a marvel of architecture and definitely worth-visiting. 'Kalyana Mandapa' is the hall, where the marriage of Shiva and Parvati is observed every year in the Hindu month of 'Chaitra' (April).

Legent Story of "Golden Lotus"

  Meenakshi temple was founded by Indra (king of Deva celestial deities). While he was on a pilgrimage to atone for his misdeeds. Indra felt his burden lifting as he neared the swayambu lingam (self formed lingam, a representation of Shiva used for worship in temples) of Madurai. He ascribed this miracle to the lingam and constructed the temple to enshrine it. Indra worshipped Shiva, who, in his grace, caused golden lotuses to appear in the nearby pool.

Potramarai Kulam 

Golden Lotus

In the temple, Potramarai Kulam is a consecrated pond where devotees go around before entering the main shrine. The term "Potramarai Kulam" suggests "
the pond with a golden lily". It is said that Lord Shiva blessed this pond and acclaimed that no marine life would grow in it. In the Tamil folklore, the pond is believed to be an evaluator for reviewing the worth of a new literature.

Temple tank and surrounding portico

The sacred temple tank Porthamarai Kulam ("Pond with the golden lotus"), is 165 ft (50 m) by 120 ft (37 m) in size.  In the Tamil legends, the lake is supposed to judge the worth of a new piece of literature. Authors place their works here and the poorly written works are supposed to sink and the scholastic ones are supposed to float, Tirukkural by Tiruvalluvar was one such work.

Only a fraction of 17th and 18th century paintings of Nayak period survives and one such portion is found in the small portico on the western side of the tank. It depicts the marriage of Sundareswarar and Meenkashi attended by Vijayaranga Chokkanatha and Rani Mangammal. The painting is executed on a vivid red background, with delicate black linework and large areas of white, green and ochre. The celestial couple is seated inside an architectural frame with a flowering tree in the background.


Taxes and Donation for construction of temple

  During the period of early Pandian kings, the monarchy taxed the people for constructing this temple. People paid taxes and donations in the form of gold and silver. But the king wanted contributions as low as a bag of rice, which would help in feeding the masons who constructed the temple. So the kings also collected one handful of rice daily from each house. Thus, people from all sectors of life contributed in building the temple, and every family in Madurai has an emotional attachment to the temple.

      Rous Peter (1786–1828), the Collector of Madurai in 1812, was nicknamed 'Peter Pandian’ as he respected and treated people of all faiths equally. He donated a set of golden stirrups studded with diamonds and red stones to the temple. Goddess Meenatchi is believed to have saved Rous Peter from a fatal incident. He also wished that after his death, his body be buried in a position that would enable his eyes to face the temple.

Pancha Sabha

image of Nataraja

"Pancha Sabhai" refers to the five royal courts of Nataraja(dancing form of Shiva) where he performed cosmic dance. The Tamil word velli means silver andambalam means stage or altar. This massive Nataraja sculpture is enclosed in a huge silver altar and hence called "Velli Ambalam" (silver abode). This is a special figure of Natarja which usually differs from Chola bronzes; in the Chola images, Nataraja is shown dancing with his left leg raised, but this sculpture has the right leg raised. According to the Tiruvilayaadal Puranam (Shiva's sacred games), this is on the request of Rajasekara Pandya, who was a sincere devotee of Shiva. He requested the deity to change his position, as he felt that keeping the same foot raised would put enormous strain and got a graceful acquiescence from the divine master.The five dance courts of Shiva in Tamil Nadu:

RITUALS

Worship

There are close to 50 priests in the temple who perform the pooja(rituals) during festivals and on a daily basis. The temple has a six time pooja calendar everyday, each comprising four rituals namely abhisheka (sacred bath), alangaram(decoration), neivethanam (food offering) and deepa aradanai(waving of lamps) for both Meenakshi and Sundareswarar.Thepuja(worship) ceremonies are held amidst music with nagaswaram (pipe instrument) and tavil (percussion instrument), religious instructions in the Vedas by priests and prostration by worshippers in front of the temple mast. The common practise is to worship Meenakshi before Sundareswarar. Margazhi (December–January) ritual is prominent one for winning a perfect, god-like husband - it is Meenakshi's ennai kappu festival.Aligned with the cardinal points, the street plans forms a giant mandala (group) whose sacred properties are believed to be activated during the mass clockwise cicumambulations of the central temple.

Vishnu And her sister Meenachi
with her Husband Shiva

Festivals

The most important festival associated with the temple is the "Meenakshi Thirukalyanam" (The divine marriage of Meenakshi) that is celebrated in April every year. The marriage of the divine couple is regarded as a classic instance of south Indian female-dominated marriage, an arrangement referred as "Madurai marriage". The male dominated marriage is called "Chidambaram marriage", referring to Shiva's uncontested dominance, ritual and mythic, at the famous Shiva temple of Chidhambaram. The marriage brings together rural and urban people, deities and mortals, Saivas (those who worship Shiva) and Vaishnavas (those who worship Vishnu) in order to celebrate Meenakshi as the royal monarch.

Story of Tatatagai(Meenachi)

Tatatagai (Meenachi)

The abode of the triple-breasted warrior goddess Meenakshi (‘fish-eyed’ – an epithet for perfect eyes in classical Tamil poetry) is considered by many to be the height of South Indian temple architecture, as vital to the aesthetic heritage of this region as the Taj Mahal to North India. It’s not so much a 17th-century temple as a 6-hectare complex with 12 tall gopurams, encrusted with a staggering array of gods, goddesses, demons and heroes (1511 of them on the south gopuram alone).

According to legend, the beautiful Meenakshi (a version of Parvati) was born with three breasts and this prophecy: her superfluous breast would melt away when she met her husband. The event came to pass when she met Shiva and took her place as his consort. The existing temple was built during the 17th-century reign of Tirumalai Nayak, but its origins go back 2000 years to when Madurai was a Pandyan capital.