Mega Temple Complex.
The Meenakshi Temple is one of the biggest temple complexes in India, and is the most iconic temple of Madurai. Madurai itself is known as the holy city of temples, and is a 2500 year old ancient city of Tamil Nadu, in South India. The temple is also quite ancient but had to be rebuilt in the 17th century after being destroyed and plundered by Muslim invaders from Delhi.
The temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva (in the form of Sundareshwar, or Beautiful Lord) and his consort, Goddess Parvati (in the form of Meenakshi). Two of the ‘gopurams’ are gold plated. These are the sanctums of the two main deities. Only Hindus are allowed to enter these two sanctums.
The temple has 14 ‘gopurams’, built in the Dravidian style. These are tall towers, covered with thousands of figurines of gods, demons and animals painted in bright colours. There are four main gopurams in the North, South, East and West directions which serve as entry points to the temple complex. You have to remember which side you enter from because you have to leave your footwear and valuables (cameras, bags) outside and collect them when you exit.
We visited the temple on a Sunday and there were very long queues for darshan. Even though we paid for special darshan donation ticket, we still had to wait about an hour to have a darshan of Meenaskhi Amman and Lord Sundershwara. After that we bought some prasadam of laddus, wadas, chaklis and pongal and sat down on the steps of the temple tank and savoured our holy experience.
The temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva (in the form of Sundareshwar, or Beautiful Lord) and his consort, Goddess Parvati (in the form of Meenakshi). Two of the ‘gopurams’ are gold plated. These are the sanctums of the two main deities. Only Hindus are allowed to enter these two sanctums.
The temple has 14 ‘gopurams’, built in the Dravidian style. These are tall towers, covered with thousands of figurines of gods, demons and animals painted in bright colours. There are four main gopurams in the North, South, East and West directions which serve as entry points to the temple complex. You have to remember which side you enter from because you have to leave your footwear and valuables (cameras, bags) outside and collect them when you exit.
We visited the temple on a Sunday and there were very long queues for darshan. Even though we paid for special darshan donation ticket, we still had to wait about an hour to have a darshan of Meenaskhi Amman and Lord Sundershwara. After that we bought some prasadam of laddus, wadas, chaklis and pongal and sat down on the steps of the temple tank and savoured our holy experience.
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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
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