Meenakshi Temple Tamilnadu History and Interesting Facts

Meenakshi Temple Quick Facts

Meenakshi Temple Overview

One of the most beautiful, grand and interesting temples in the world, Meenakshi Temple is located in the city of Madurai in the state of Tamil Nadu, South India. Meenakshi Temple is one of the richest and historical temples of India. Each region of India has its own unique architectural and craftsmanship style, yet the architectural style of South India is the most unique style of India.

Meenakshi Temple History

The history of Temple is quite hazy as nothing is clearly mentioned about it but it is believed that its construction started around 2000 years. Temple is being talked about in Tamil literature for the last two centuries.

The Hindu Saint Thirugnanasambandar, a great knower of service philosophy, described this temple before the beginning of the 7th century and also considered himself a devotee of Iravan. He also built Vasanta Mandap and Kilikundu Mandap in this temple.

The Temple has a very beautiful corridor in the middle of which the Meenarchi Nayakar Mandapam was built by Queen Mangammal. For the construction of this temple, the ancient Pandian king also collected tax from the people.

The present form of Temple was built between 1623 and 1655 AD. It is believed that this temple was actually built by the Uttarviyo of Kumari Kandam in the 6th century. In the 14th century, a Mughal general, Malik Kafur, plundered this temple and the temple was also damaged, after which the ruler and common people of there had repaired it again.

Meenakshi Temple Interesting Facts

1. This wonderful Temple is covered over an area of ​​about 6 hectares, in which many small temples are also included.
2. This grand Temple has a total of 14 gopurams, whose height is between 45-50 meters, of which the highest gopuram is located in the south, which has a total height of about 51.9 meters.
3. The Temple has more than 1,000 pillars, on which various deities and different types of carvings have been done.
4. The oldest place in this temple is considered to be its Garbha Griha, which is said to be more than 3000 years old.
5. The Idols of various Hindu gods and goddesses have been made on this temple and its gopurams, whose total number is believed to be around 33,000.
6. Idols of Goddess Lakshmi Ji have been made on the 8 pillars of this temple.
7. A sacred lake is also located within this temple complex, which is called Potramarai Kulam, it is 165 feet long and 120 feet wide, in the middle of which a golden lotus is also situated, which is also called the Golden Lotus Sarovar.
8. This temple also includes a twin temple, which of Goddess Meenakshi and Lord Sundareswarar. On top of these twins, temples are gold-plated sanctuaries.
9. The Temple also has a huge Nataraja idol, which is enclosed in a huge silver altar, hence it is called Veli Ambalam.
10. According to some Hindu mythology, it is believed that when Indra was going on a pilgrimage to repent of sin, it was he who built this temple.
11. According to Hindu mythology, it is also believed that Lord Shiva in the form of Sundareshwar along with his Ganas, Meenakshi Devi (Parvati), daughter of King Malyadhwaj, came to this city to marry him.
12. Many festivals are celebrated in the temple. Every Friday, golden idols of Meenakshi Devi and Sundareswarar Bhagwan are swinging in a swing, for whose darshan thousands of devotees reach this festival.