These are a few photos of Meenakshi Amman Temple in Madurai(India).
Yesterday I have visited the oldest temple which is located on the south Vaigai River in the temple city of Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. I will explain a few interesting news I got from the people. The temple was built by King Kulasekara Pandya (1190-1216 CE).
It is believed that Lord Shiva assumed the form of Sundareswarar and married Parvati (ie.Meenakshi) at the site where the temple is currently located. The temple occupies a huge area over 14 acres. It has a pond named Porthamarai Kulam. It means the pond with a golden lotus. The structure of a golden lotus is placed at the center of the pond.
The temple has 14 gopurams (ie: gateway towers) and 33,000 sculptures including two golden sculptured vimanas that is the tower above the sanctum. The southern gopuram is the tallest of them all with a height of 170 feet.
The temple was rebuilt in the 16th century by Vishwanatha Nayakar who was a Nayak ruler after it was destroyed and looted by Malik Kafur in the 14th century then again rebuilt by Madurai’s great ruler Thirumalai Nayak during the period 1623 to 1655.
Among the many Mandapams we can see the Meenakshi Nayakkar Mandapam which is Ayiramkal Mandapam also known as thousand pillars hall(1000 pillars). Some of these pillars produce different melodious musical notes when struck.
There are still lots of stories hiding inside the temple. Due to the Corona virus issue, I couldn't get more information about this temple.
Few more images of the temple
I hope it was to your liking, thank you very much for reading.