Madurai

11:57 PM Posted by Tamizhmagan

Madurai is one of the oldest cities of South India. It is the seat of Dravidian culture.

There are spiritual associations to the name Madurai. Once a merchant noticed Indra worshipping a Swayambhu Siva linga and informed King Kulashekhara of this. Lord Siva appeared in the king’s dreams as Sundareswar. Drops of nectar fell from Siva’s hair on the spot and as nectar is supposed to be the sweetest of all sweets, the place was called Madhurai. Madhurai is also called the Kadabhavanam Kshetram as the place used to be full of kadambha trees. The pandya king built the temple for Lord Sundareswar and his consort Meenakshi.

But this temple was destroyed during the Moslem invasion. It was subsequently rebuilt by the future generations. The temple was named Meenakshi temple because fish or meen was the emblem of the Pandyan kings.

The vision is that, like how the mother fish casts a gaze at her spawns to instill life in them, similarly Goddess Meenakshi just has to cast her eyes on her worshippers to instill a spiritual life in them.

There are legends associated with the origin of goddess Meenakshi. She was supposed to have been born out of the sacrificial fire during the Putrakameshti sacrifice by the Pandyan king Malayadhwaja. Another legend says that she was born as a Pandyan princess who vowed to marry only the one who could defeat her in a combat. Lord Siva disguised as Sundareswar defeated her and thus married her.

The origin of the Tamil sang am took place here. There are stories attached to this incident as well. The original members are said to be the 48 parts of goddess Sarawati following a curse from Brahma. They went on to become great scholars. The temple is also famous for its pond with golden lily flowers. The art and sculpture of this place is also beyond comparison.
There are a lot of brilliant carvings here.