| One of the most ancient
heritage sites of India, the temple town- Madurai reflects cultural
ethos of India in its true spirit. The magnificent Meenakshi Sundareswarar
temple is the crowning glory of this historical city.
Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple is literally an art gallery each stone
image reflects tradition of ancient and vibrant culture. The Meenakshi
temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva and Meenakshi.
Skyline of Madurai is dominated by the towering Rajagopurams of the
temple. There are four entrances to this temple in four cardinal directions
under huge gopuras but it is customary to enter in the temple through
a mandap with no tower. This entrance directly leads to the shrine of
Goddess.
This mandap named Ashta Sakthi Mandapa is an impressive
structure- 14-meter long and 5.5 meter wide. A smaller mandap connects
a two large mandaps with each other and then to a large hall called
Samagam Meenakshi Naicker Mandapa -42.9 meter long
and 33.5 meter wide. There are 110 stone columns of 6.7-meter height
each in this hall.
Added in 1613 is a 183-meter long and 7.6-meter wide mandapa that follows
Chitra gopura is called by the name of Mudali
Pillai Mandapa . But the most ornamental of all temple mandapas
is the Kilikatti Mandapa added in 1623. The other
majestic mandapa of the temple is the Unjal . Both
of these mandaps contain paintings on their ceilings.
The captivating architecture of the Meenakshi Temple will leave you
in the amazing artistic world. The most amazing feature of the temple
is that it stood as a legend for over two millennia.
The main festival ritual associate with Meenakshi Temple is Teppam
Festival . Teppam festival or the annual Float festival held
for several days. Another festival linked with Meenakshi temple is Meenakshi
Kalyanam -annual festival of marriage of Meenakshi with Lord
Sundareshwar.
Enjoy Tour to Meenakshi Temple, Madurai with India Tour Guides. For
more information fill the form below.
| Tamil
Nadu Temples |
| Chidambaram
Temple, Chidambaram |
Rameshwaram
Temples, Rameshwaram |
| Kanchipuram
Temples, Chennai |
Thanjavur
Temples, Thanjavur |
| Ekambareswarar
Temple, Kanchipuram |
Jain
Temple, Chennai |
| Kailasanathar
Temple, Kanchipuram |
Perur
Patteeswaraswamy Temple, Coimbatore |
| Mahabalipuram
Temples, Mahabalipuram |
Parthasarathy
Temple, Chennai |
| Meenakshi
Temple, Madurai |
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