Meenakshi Amman Temple
Maduria, Tamil Nadu, India
History of the Structure
Historical evidence has been dated back to early A.D.
In 1310 after the Islamic conqueror Malikapur invaded the Temple, and it was almost destroyed completely. But they did destroy most of the ancient sculptures.
A Mythological story, Malayadwaja the Pandyan king (Tamil Dynasty), along with his queen Kanchanamala performed the ‘Putrakameshti Yagna’ (ritual) for a child.
Shiva,his eternal consort, suggested Parvati (Goddess) became the child of Louis the Pious king. She rose radiantly from the sacrificial fire as a little girl, with breasts; the third of which would disappear when Shiva set his eyes on her. The girl was named Thad Thangai she was brought up as a ‘princess’ under divine instructions.
Facts
- Height- 170 ft
- Architectural design- Dravidian architecture
- Architect- Viswanatha Nayak
- Function- hindu temple
- The Meenakshi Temple complex is a city temple in Madurai. It is one of the largest and certainly one of the most ancient in Madurai and most revered in India
The temple attracts 15,000 visitors a day, around 25,000 on Fridays, and receives an annual revenue of Rs (rupees) sixty million (~US$1 million)
One Indian rupee equals 0.015 US dollar
There is about 33,000 sculptures in the temple
Designed in 1560