Meenakshi Amman Temple, Madurai- Tamil Nadu
Built by Kulashekar Pandyan of the Pandyan
dynasty
Taking orders from Prabhu Shiva himself
Who appeared in the King’s dreams
A central majestic structure in the middle of the
ancient city
The scholars in the 6th century met for discussions in the pious land
How we wish we saw its original grandeur
Destroyed by the Muslim Sultanate in the 16th
century
Rebuilt it was by the Vijayanagara empire
After defeating the invaders
Further expanded the aalayam was in the 17th century
By Vishwanatha Nayakar of the Nayaka dynasty
And by Thirumalai Nayak, who followed the previous
king’s footsteps
Yet, destruction struck again
This time, in the form of the British rulers
The locals were determined to protect their heritage
in 1959
Instead of praising the glory of the invaders
And choose to restore the temple by collecting
donations
The story of Meenakshi is a fascinating one
A triple-breasted girl born out of the fire
As a result of a yagna performed
By King Malayadwaja Pandya and his queen
Kanchanamalai
Confused they were at the gift bestowed upon them
When Prabhu Shiva assured them that things would be fine
Meenakshi’s third breast disappeared when she met
her husband
And the wedding took place in Madhurai
With Bhagwan Vishnu taking the place of Meenakshi’s
brother
And why wouldn’t he?
When she was none other than Maa Parvati
Marrying
her beloved Prabhu Shiva
The wedding ceremony is celebrated every year-
Chaithirai Triruzha known as Tirukalyanam
Maha Vishnu Temple, Thirunelli- Kerala
Chera king Kulaseheran, a bhakt of Bhagwan Vishnu
Built the temple during his reign AD 767 and AD 834
Propagating the Vaishnava order
Proving his bhakti through the famous Sankrit work
Mukundamaala
Thirunelli, they say, comes from Nelli, a gooseberry
The fruit of the tree under which Bhagwan
Brahma
Found the murti of Prabhu Vishnu
A king from Coorg tried to renovate the temple
Only for it to be opposed by the Vellattiri King
The remains of which we see even to this date
Until a drought caused the region to go dry
The wife of Chirackal Raja of the Vaarikkara Nayanar
Tharvad
Came to know of the locals’ plight
When she visited the temple for pooja
She went back home to send materials
To build a water supply to the temple
From a water source, Varaham, somewhere in the dense forest
Open granite supported by pillars with murals carved on them
The structure even today brings fresh mountain stream to the Prabhu’s abode
Source:
https://www.culturalindia.net/indian-temples/meenakshi-temple.html
http://thirunellitemple.com/history.php
#FreeHinduTemples
Such a serene post Srivalli. I have been to the Madhurai meenakshi temple many times. Awe-inspiring every single time! Chithirai starts today! 15th april!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! I'm yet to visit this wonderful place. For us, it started two days ago on our New Year (Ugadi). :)
DeleteI am dying to go to the Meenakshi temple. My husband only visits Tirupathi (we go there from Chennai so even though I know it is not in Tamil Nadu, I associate this temple with TN). I think I will make a special temple trip without him once Covid is over.
ReplyDeleteI hope you get to put your plan into action very soon.
DeleteP.S: Rayalaseema people are going to be very angry for giving away Tirupati to the neighboring state. :P
So many stories inter-woven so well..as usual an interesting one
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Arti. :)
DeleteYou weave mythology architecture and verse so skilfully
ReplyDeleteHere from AToZ https://poojapriyamvada.blogspot.com/2021/04/marasim-newnormal-a2z.html
Thank you so much, Pooja :)
DeleteSo, there's a story about Madurai too (on the same trip as Brihadiswara). I may have blogged about it already. I'll have to check.
ReplyDeleteThirunelli is calling me:)
Lovely collection as always.
Thank you, Arti. :)
DeleteOh, please do check and share the link. I'd love to know what had happened. <3
Meenakshi temple - I have a miraculous personal story about it. Once I kept dreaming of a temple which I had never visited... And described about it to my MIL. When my MIL showed me snaps of various temples she thought were close to my description we zeroed upon Meenakshi temple. And then she told me that my husband in his teen age had visited Madurai with his parents and had refused to wake up in the morning and go for the darshan. So my in-laws had to proceed for darshan leaving him in the hotel room. And as per my MIL thats why Meenakshi Devi is appearing in my dreams so that we can fulfil that darshan and aplogize.
ReplyDeleteWe are yet to visit Madurai though. But isn't it a miracle to experience this. Your post and the temple pictures reminded me of my experience.
Oh, wow! That's a surreal experience. I've heard of such dreams and feel sad that because I never get them. Once the covid restrictions are sorted, I hope you and your family can plan a trip to the temple.
DeleteI have a feeling you'll have a marvelous experience at the temple.
Amazing. I don't know how many ruins we have yet which need reconstruction.
ReplyDeleteI was in delight to read and see the pictures. :-D
Too many, P, we have too many ruins that need to be saved. :(
DeleteI'm so glad to enjoy the posts. I loved searching for the pictures. :D