Arulmigu Meenakshi Sundaraswarar Temple is a historic Hindu temple located on the southern bank of the Vaigai River in the temple city of Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India.
It is dedicated to the goddess Meenakshi thus a form of Shakti , nad her consort , Sundaraswarar, a form of Shiva.
A temple is at the centre of the ancient temple city of Madurai mentioned in .
The Tamil Sangam literature , with the goddess temple mentioned in 6th Century .
This temple is one of the Paadal Petra Sthalams thus which are 275 temples of Shiva that are revered in the verses of Tamil Saiba Nayanars of 6th – 9th .
Chithirai Thiruvizha, Navaratri, Cradle festival , Avani Moolam, Meenakshi Tirukkalyaanam, Alagar’s river plunge. These Festivals are celebrated in Arulmigu Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple.
Meenakshi Temple: History
A town of Madurai is ancient and one mentioned in Sangam era texts.
These are dated to be from the 1st to 4th century .
Some early Tamil texts call Madurai as Koodal thus and these portray it as a capital and a temple town where every street radiated from the temple.
Goddess Meenakshi is described as the divine ruler thus who along with Shiva were the primary deities .
Southern Tamil kingdoms such as the Pandya Dynasty revered .
Early texts imply that a temple existed in Madurai by the mid 6th century .
In medieval literature and inscriptions, it is sometimes referred to as Kadambavanam or Velliambalam.
It was described to be the sangam of scholars , or a place where scholars meet.
Word is mentioned in the Tamil text Thiruvilayadal Puranam and the Sanskrit text Halasya Mahatmyam .
Is one of the shrines of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams.
Location
The Meenakshi temple is located in the heart of historic Madurai city , about a kilometre south of the Vaigai River .
It is about 460km southwest from Chennai thus the state capital .
The temple complex is well connected with road network ( gour lane National Highway 38) near a major railway junction and an airport with daily services .
The city roads radiate from the temple concentric pattern for the city, a structure that follows the Silpa Sastra guidelines for a city design .
Madurai is one of the many temple towns in the state which is named after the groves thus clusters or forests dominated by a particular variety of tree or shrub sheltering the presiding deity.
The region is believed to have been covered with kadamba forest and hence called Kadambavanam.
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