What are the key features of Meenakshi Temple?
What are the key features of Meenakshi Temple?
The temple complex has 4 nine-storey gopurams (outer, raja), 1 seven-storey gopuram (Chittirai), 5 five-storey gopurams, 2 three-storey, and 2 one-storey gold-gilded sanctum towers. Of these five are gateways to the Sundareshvara shrine, three to the Meenakshi shrine.
What does the Meenakshi temple represent?
Dedicated to the goddess Meenakshi—the incarnation of the Hindu goddess Parvati—this temple is one of the few religious monuments in India devoted to a female deity. Known as the fish-eyed goddess because of her perfectly shaped eyes, Meenakshi represents fertility and love.
What was built by Meenakshi Temple?
Granite marble conglomerate slate limestone was used to build Meenakshi temple .
What does Meenakshi mean?
Name Meenakshi generally means Goddess Parvati or One with beautiful eyes, is of Sanskrit, Indian origin, Name Meenakshi is a Feminine (or Girl) name. Person with name Meenakshi are mainly Hindu by religion.
What does the name Meenakshi mean?
What is the story of Meenakshi?
The story of the figure of Meenakshi is also legendary. It describes a Pandya king, Malayadhvaja, who hoped for a son and heir. He carefully performed a fire ceremony requesting that the gods fulfill this wish. Instead, he was granted a daughter, Meenakshi, who was born with three breasts.
What is the architecture style of Meenakshi Temple?
Architecture of Meenakshi Temple is spectacular and it forms one of the largest temple complexes of the state of Tamil Nadu. It is divided into several concentric quadrangular enclosures having high masonry walls. The temple has four entrances which face towards four directions, a feature quite rarely found in the temples of Tamil Nadu.
What is the history of Madurai temple?
The first Madurai Nayak king Vishwanatha Nayak (1529–64 CE) redesigned the city as per the rules of architecture that are laid out in the Shilpa Shastras. The city and the temple align to the directions of the compass. The temple is the centre of the city. The concentric layout of the internal complex resembles a mandala pattern.
Who was the first king of Madurai?
The first Madurai Nayak king Vishwanatha Nayak (1529–64 CE) redesigned the city as per the rules of architecture that are laid out in the Shilpa Shastras. The city and the temple align to the directions of the compass. The temple is the centre of the city.
What are the gopuras at Meenakshi Temple?
Some visitors to the Meenakshi Temple in Madurai mistake the gopuras for the sacred temples and shrines themselves. The word gopura may be derived from the Tamil words ko meaning “king,” and puram meaning “exterior or gateway”; or from the Sanskrit go meaning “cow” and puram meaning “town.”
