At a distance of two Km from Madurai Junction Railway Station, the historic Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple, additionally known as as Meenakshi Amman Temple, is likely one of the greatest and hottest pilgrimage sites in India. Devoted to Goddess Parvati and Lord Siva, the temple is taken into account an structure marvel. It was shortlisted as one of many high 30 nominees for New Seven Wonders of the World. It is likely one of the the prime places to visit in Madurai.
The Madurai Temple types the center and lifeline of Madurai metropolis which is 2,500 yr previous. The unique temple was constructed by Kulashekara Pandya, however the initiative to rebuild the construction was taken by first Nayak king of Madurai, Viswanatha Nayak (1559-1600) below the supervision of Ariyanatha Mudaliar. The temple was considerably expanded to the present construction in the course of the reign of Thirumalai Nayak between 1623 and 1655 CE by the Nayak rulers. The credit score for making the temple as splendid as it’s at this time goes to Tirumalai Nayak who introduced again glory to this magnificent construction.
The complicated is inbuilt round 45 acres of land and is a large construction measuring 254 by 237 meters. The temple is surrounded by 14 towers, the tallest of which, the well-known Southern tower, rises to over 170 ft excessive inbuilt 1559. The oldest gopuram is the jap one, constructed by Maravarman Sundara Pandyan throughout 1216-1238. The temple attracts 15,000 guests a day, round 25,000 on Fridays. The temple has 4 entrances, whereas the doorway on Jap facet being the primary temple entrance.
The temple is an architectural marvel with an estimated 33,000 sculptures within the temple. There are a number of corridors, halls and shrines contained in the temple. The corridors and pillars are adorned with great art work. The outer partitions of the primary shrines Meenakshi Amman and Sundareswarar have breathtakingly stunning sculptures carved with a lot element. The sculptures depict the mythological tales, Shiva & Parvathi marriage scenes, and so on. The coloured sculptures on the temple towers are fairly well-known with intensive particulars and artwork work and hundreds of sculptures splendidly organized on every tower.
The sacred pond (Potramarai Kulam) contained in the Meenakshi Amman Temple measures 165 ft by 120 ft is visited earlier than getting into the temple. The view of the temple is marvelous from the pond premises with towers raised on all sides. The partitions on western facet of the temple pond are fantastically pained in coloration which depicts the legend behind the temple and scenes from the wedding of Shiva and Parvathi.
The Thousand Pillar Corridor comprises 985 (as an alternative of 1000) carved pillars. It was constructed by Ariyanatha Mudaliar in 1569. It’s at the moment homes a museum with artifacts collected from Madurai from eighth century onwards. There are the Musical Pillars exterior this corridor in the direction of the west. Every pillar produces a distinct musical observe when struck.
The annual 10-day Meenakshi Tirukalyanam competition, celebrated throughout April and Could, attracts 1 million guests.
Timings: 5 AM to 12:30 PM & four PM to 9:30 PM