The Madurai Meenakshi temple is one of the iconic temples of South India. It is situated in the heart of the city of Madurai in the southern state of Tamilnadu. It is one of the oldest and important temples of India and is well known all over the world. It was built by Kulasekarar Pandyan, who was a king of the Pandyan dynasty around 2500 years ago.

The main deity is Meenakshi who is an avatar of Lord Parvathi. The other main shrine is for Lord Sundareshwarar. It is believed that Lord Shiva came to earth as Sundareshwarar and married Meenakshi (Parvati) at this specific place where the temple now stands. One of the highlights at the temple is the night ceremony. Every night, Lord Shiva (in the form of Sundareshwarar) is taken in a palanquin by temple priests performing a puja, amidst chanting to the shrine of Meenakshi Amman and he is brought back to his shrine every morning.

Apart from these main shrines, there are shrines for others deities like Ganesha, & Murugan.  Smaller shrines for deities Lakshmi, Rukmini and Saraswati are also present withing the temple campus. This magnificent temple is a pilgrimage destination for Shaivites or followers of Shiva. The temple also includes Vishnu in many sculptures, architectural carvings & rituals. He is believed to be Meenakshi’s brother according to some Vaishnava texts. Both, devotees of Shaivism and Vaishnavism visit the temple embracing both the traditions of Hinduism.

It is a huge temple which occupies an area of 14 acres. The entire structure represents a “madala” when viewed from the above. A mandala is a structure built according to laws of symmetry and loci. The bottom part of the temple is made from granite while the gopurams are made of limestone. There are four huge gopurams which act as gateways to the Meenakshi Amman temple. The gopurams have intricate, beautifully colored sculptures from Dravidian architecture.

In all, there are fourteen towering gopurams in the temple complex. The tall gopurams have intricate sculptures with mythological stories and exquisite carvings of the gods and goddesses. The temple complex also has numerous halls or mandapams. These halls were built by the reigning kings as a resting place for the devotees. The largest mandapam is called the hall of a thousand pillars. The hall has 985 pillars and was built in 1569. Beautiful sculptures and carvings adorn the walls and pillars. The five musical pillars outside this mandapam are a sight to behold and experience.

Millions of devotees attend the ”thirukalyanam” festival which is a celebration of the wedding of Meenakshi Amman with Sundareshwarar highlighted with grandeur and festivities that takes place over a period of 10 days during the month of April every year.

The grandeur of the architecture and sculptures at the Meenakshi temple had made it one of the wonders in India. Since Meenakshi is the main deity of the temple, the importance of women in a tamil Hindu family is signified and highlighted.