Feb 10, 2016 11:38 AM
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We are talking about the very famous Meenakshi Amman Temple, a very historic, spiritual Hindu belief temple located on the southern bank of the Vaigai River in the temple city of Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. The temple is said to be dedicated to Parvati also known as Meenakshi and her consort, Shiva named Sundareswarar.
The temple is located in the city of Madurai which is about 2500 years old and the temple is said to be the heart of the city and is also a very big spot for tourist attraction. The Nayaks rules the Madurai from the 16th to the 18th Century and at that time they left a majestic imprints of their rule in the Meenakshi – Sundareswarar Temple. The Temple has a very complex structure, it is within a high-walled enclosure and at the core of which there are two Sanctums for Meenakshi and Sundareshwarar which is surrounded by a number of small shrines and grand pillared halls. There are 14 very impressive and huge Gopurams in the hall(The Gopurams are the Gateway Towers), these soaring towers rise from a solid granite base and are covered with stucco figures of Dieties, Mythical animals and also monsters who paintings are there on the tower in vivid colors.
It is an absolutely amazing temple with great mythological history behind it, it is believed that Madhurai Meenakshi temple is the only place on earth where the marriage of lord Shiva & Goddess Parvathi took place, so the diety is for both Lord Shiva and Parvati together. The entire marriage procession is painted over the Gopurams of the Marriage of Lord Shiva and Parvathi. The human and animal figures are sculptured over everywhere very significantly and beautifully. Inside the temple there are many huge life sized statues of many Hindu Gods & Goddess which are painted very beautifully. In the temple, exactly at the center there is a Golden Lotus and also there is a big hall with 1000 pillars called as " AAYIRUM KAAL MANDAPAM " and there is belief that earlier during some specified time of the day one can hear the musical sounds " sa, re, ga, ma, pa, dha, ni, sa" i.e the Sapta Saram by banging on the pillars present in the hall.
It is said that the tallest is the Southern Tower which is about 51.9 meters or 170 ft where as all other are about 45-50 meters.
The 12 Gopurams are the heart of the temples, out of which four are outside the temple which are said to be the landmarks of the Madurai. The Four Major Gopurams present outside the temple are -
The East Tower - The east tower has a height of about 161'3", it is Nine Storeyed and it has 1011 sudhai figures sculpted on it.
The South Tower - The South Tower also has nine Storeys and has a height of about 170'6", this tower has 1511 sudhai figures.
The West Tower - This tower also has nine storeys and has a height of 163'3" and it has 1124 sudhai figures.
The North Tower - This tower also has Nine Storeys and has a height of 160'6". It has very less sudhai figures.
The South tower is said to have the maximum number of sudhai figures and it has the maximum height compared to all other Gopurams.
The temple is said to have an attraction of about 15, 000 peoples everyday and about 25, 000 people especially on friday and the total revenue of the temple per annum is said to be about 60 Million in Indian Currency. There are about 33, 000 sculptures present in the temple. It is also said that this temple was nominated for the the "New Seven Wonders of the world's" list. The annual 10-day Meenakshi Tirukalyanam festival, celebrated during April and May, attracts 1 million visitors.
Coming-In To The Information Related That How To Reach The Temple -
There are all means of transport available for the travellers and the tourists to reach this place. The most coomon are the oad and Rail Transports and both of these are very conviniently available in the city for Coming-In or Going-Out. However, the most expensive mode of transport i.e. The Airways facility is also available in the city for the passengers.
First of all, is the Road Transport, this facility is very easily accessible over there in teh city with a lots of buses made available from the side of State Government and also Taxi's and Auto-Rikshaws are also available there very easily at very affordable prices. Madurai is situated on the National Highway 7(NH-7), NH-45B, NH-49. Almost Almost all of them are presently being upgraded to multi-lane ways as part of National highway development program. Travel from Chennai and Bangalore will take approximately 8-10 hours. the capital city chennai is about 462 KM's away from Madurai but apart from being a long distance, the buses for inter-connecting these two cities are very easily available at regular interval of time made possible by State Government of Tamil Nadu State Transport Department. Not only Buses, Taxi's and Auto-Rikshaws, people now a days have the facility of booking Cabs which is made availale by the Travel Agents of the city who are very easily in reach to the travellers or newer people travelling the city for the first time.
The next is the railways, The city of Madurai is very well connected with all the major rail means connecting major cities like the Capital city Chennai and many other major cities like Bangalore, Mumbai, the National Capital New Delhi etc. The Facility of the trains is also very easily accessible to the travellers and is available at a very affordable cost. There are three railway station in the city of Maduai which are Madurai Junction(MDU), Kudalnagar(KON), Tirupparangundram(TDN).
Another very rare means of Transport is the Water-Ways which is luckily available in this city. The Vaigai river connects the city to two near-by ports out of which one is the Capital city chennai which is about 460 Km's and the other is Tuticorin which is about 160 KM's from Madurai.
The last is the most expensive means of transport i.e. Airways and the facility is available in the city, although it's costly but it saves a lots of time for the passengers. The city of Madurai has its own Madurai Airport(IXM) which is inter-connected with all major airports of Inida including the Chennai's Airport.
Coming-In into the city, the Meenakshi Temple is just 2 KM's Away from the Railway station and also from the Bus Stop where as the Airport is about 11 KM's away from the temple. All the major means of public transport like City Buses, Taxi's etc are very easily available at very cheap and affordable prices.
Coming to Our Last Topic of Staying In The City
The traveler or visitors who have to planned for a long trip or wants to stay in the city for about a week, there is nothing for them to worry about as there are a lot of options available for the people. The first is the IRCTC Retiring Rooms which is made available by the Railway department at a very cheap rate charging it for every 12 hours and later-on comes all the other means like hotel, lodges and guest Houses.
Today the facilities are made available for all types of Resting Rooms to book it online from your home before starting your journey including the Railway’s Retiring Room.
So according to convenience and Spiritual Beliefs, Madurai is place which should surely be visited once.
