Meenakshi Amman Temple

Meenakshi Amman Temple stands at the heart of Madurai, on the south bank of the Vaigai River in Tamil Nadu. The old city was laid out in square streets around it, and the temple remains the centre of daily life. It is dedicated to Meenakshi, a form of Parvati, and her consort Sundareswarar, a form of Shiva.

A temple has stood here since early times, and it is mentioned in classical Tamil literature. The complex was badly damaged in the early fourteenth century during raids from the Delhi Sultanate. Most of the present structure was rebuilt and expanded under the Nayak rulers of Madurai in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, particularly under Thirumalai Nayak.

The temple covers about 14 acres inside high walls. It has 14 gopurams, or gateway towers, covered with thousands of brightly painted figures of gods, demons and animals. The tallest, the southern tower, rises about 52 metres. Inside are the Golden Lotus Tank, where pilgrims bathe, and the Hall of a Thousand Pillars, which in fact has 985 carved pillars and now holds a small art museum. Musical pillars that give different notes when tapped stand near it.

The largest festival is the Chithirai festival in April and May, which celebrates the wedding of Meenakshi and Sundareswarar and draws huge crowds. Each night a procession carries Sundareswarar to Meenakshi's shrine.

The temple is open from early morning to late night with an afternoon break. Non-Hindus may visit most of the complex but not the inner sanctums. Mobile phones are not allowed inside, and a modest dress code applies.

The goddess's name joins mina, fish, and akshi, eyes, so Meenakshi means the fish-eyed one, a classical image of beauty in Tamil poetry. The earliest masonry that survives dates from the reign of the Pandya king Sadayavarman Kulasekaran I, between 1190 and 1216. Under Vishwanatha Nayak, who ruled from 1529 to 1564, the tower over the goddess's shrine was covered in gold.

The halls inside reward slow walking. The Kambathadi Mandapam carries carvings of eight forms of Shiva, including Nataraja and Bhikshatana, and the Ashta Shakthi Mandapam is named after the eight forms of the goddess on its pillars. The Kilikoondu Mandapam, the parrot cage hall, once used for keeping parrots, is now used for the kolattam stick dance. Outside the walls, facing the eastern gopuram, the Pudu Mandapam has 124 pillars, though tailors and stallholders now fill it and hide many of the carvings.

In October 2017 the temple was named the best Swachh Iconic Place in India, the cleanliness award of the national Swachh Bharat campaign. Visitors leave shoes and phones at counters outside the gates. The evening procession that carries Sundareswarar to Meenakshi's shrine for the night is the most atmospheric time to be inside.