Idol of Meenakshi at the Meenakshi temple in Madurai

Meenakshi is a Hindu deity - sister of Lord Vishnu and wife of Lord Shiva - worshipped primarily by South Indians in India and abroad. She is also one of the few Hindu female deities to have a major temple devoted to her - the famed Meenakshi temple in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. The picture on the right shows her idol at the temple. Image File history File links Meenakshi-deity. ... Image File history File links Meenakshi-deity. ... Meenakshi temple A different view of the Meenakshi temple The Meenakshi temple is a Hindu temple in the Tamil Nadu city of Madurai. ... Hinduism (known as in modern Indian languages[1]) is a religion that originated in the Indian subcontinent. ... Vishnu (Hindi: (विष्‍णु) is a form of God, whom Hindus pray to. ... This article is about the Hindu God. ... Meenakshi temple A different view of the Meenakshi temple The Meenakshi temple is a Hindu temple in the Tamil Nadu city of Madurai. ... , Madurai   (Tamil: , IPA: ) is a city and a municipal corporation with a population of more than 1. ... Tamil Nadu (தமிழ் நாடு, Land of the Tamils) is a state at the southern tip of India. ...

The legend of Meenakshi

Long ago Indra killed a demon, even though the demon did not harm anyone. This act brought a curse upon Indra that forced him to continue wandering until he was redeemed from his sin. After much wandering Indra was freed from his suffering through the power of a Shivalingam in a forest, and so he built a small temple at that site. Indra (Sanskrit: इन्द्र or इंद्र, indra) is the god of weather and war, and lord of Svargaloka in Hinduism. ... Sin is a term used mainly in a religious context to describe an act that violates a moral rule, or the state of having committed such a violation. ... Linga worship (Estate of Cynthia and Harlen Welsh) Lingam or Linga (Sanskrit: Gender as in purusha-linga : male sexual organ) is used as a symbol for the worship of the Hindu God Shiva. ... A forest is an area with a high density of trees (or, historically, a wooded area set aside for hunting). ... Temple of Hephaestus, an Doric Greek temple in Athens with the original entrance facing east, 449 BC (western face depicted) For other uses, see Temple (disambiguation). ...

It so happened that at that time in South India there was a Pandyan king called Malayadhwaja Pandyan ruling a small city by the name Manavur, which was quite near to this Shivalinga. He was the son of Kulashekara Pandyan. He came to know about the Shivalinga and decided to build a huge temple for Shiva in the forest Kadambavanam (vanam means forest). He also developed the region into a fine princely state called Madurai. South India is a linguistic-cultural region of India that comprises the four Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Pondicherry, whose inhabitants are collectively referred to as South Indians. ... The Pandyan kingdom was an ancient state at the tip of South India, founded around the 6th century BCE. It was part of the Dravidian cultural area, which also comprised other kingdoms such as that of the Pallava, the Chera, the Chola, the Chalukya and the Vijayanagara. ... “King” redirects here. ... , Madurai   (Tamil: , IPA: ) is a city and a municipal corporation with a population of more than 1. ...

The king was childless and sought an heir for the kingdom. Shiva granted him his prayers through an Ayonija child (one born not from the womb). This child was three years old and actually the incarnation of goddess Parvati the wife of Shiva. She was born with three breasts and fish-shaped eyes. It was said that the extra breast would disappear when she met her future husband. She was named Meenakshi, (meaning fish eyed) from the words Meen (meaning fish) and akshi (meaning eyes). In politics, a country (or in some cases, a group of countries) over which a king or queen reigns, is a kingdom, see: monarchy. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... This article is about the deity Shiva. ...

Shiva the Natarajan performing the Universal dance

She grew up to be a Shiva-Shakti personification. After the death of the king, she ruled the kingdom with skillful administration. File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Nataraja Nataraja (literally, The King of Dance) is the dancing posture of Lord Śiva, the aspect of God as the Destroyer in Hinduism. ...

In one of her expeditions she went to the Himalaya mountains and there, on seeing Shiva, her extra breast disappeared. Many of the gods and goddesses came to witness their marriage. Perspective view of the Himalaya and Mount Everest as seen from space looking south-south-east from over the Tibetan Plateau. ...

Gopuram of Meenakshi temple at Madurai

At the wedding celebrations the Gods refused to have the served food unless Shiva performed a majestic dance for everybody gathered at the place. At this there was the dance of Chidambaram, the cosmic dance in front of his wife Meenakshi. It epitomised and merged all life force and beauty into one whole. In the end Meenakshi was merged with the shivalingam and became the representation of life and beauty. Download high resolution version (535x756, 107 KB) Source Nataraja-Shiva From fr: File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Download high resolution version (535x756, 107 KB) Source Nataraja-Shiva From fr: File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Gopuram of Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam Gopuram, a prominent feature of the Hindu temple architecture of South India, is the rising tower at the entrance of a temple. ... Meenakshi temple A different view of the Meenakshi temple The Meenakshi temple is a Hindu temple in the Tamil Nadu city of Madurai. ... , Madurai   (Tamil: , IPA: ) is a city and a municipal corporation with a population of more than 1. ... This article is about the town in Cuddalore district. ... Linga worship (Estate of Cynthia and Harlen Welsh) Lingam or Linga (Sanskrit: Gender as in purusha-linga : male sexual organ) is used as a symbol for the worship of the Hindu God Shiva. ...

There is another legend that talks about why the North Tower (called as "Mottai Gopuram") does not have that many sculptures. Bhootaganas were supposed to finish the construction of the temple towers during the night. Legend says that bhootaganas completed all three towers but while in the middle of building the north tower sunrise happened halting the completion of the north tower.

Metaphorical representation

The story describes the early understanding of beauty and growth and the processes of life and creation in mythical metaphors. The word mythology (from the Greek μυολογία mythología, from μυολογείν mythologein to relate myths, from μύος mythos, meaning a narrative, and λόγος logos, meaning speech or argument) literally means the (oral) retelling of myths – stories that a particular culture believes to be true and that use the supernatural to interpret natural events and...

Meenakshi Devi

Meenakshi Devi is another name for the Goddess. As a mark of respect, Meenakshi's full title is Sri Meenakshi Devi. Like a fish, Meenakshi Devi's eyes are always open, watching over her devotees. Her eyes are fabled to bring life to the unborn. For other uses see Devi (disambiguation). ... An acronym SRI may refer to one of the following: Socially Responsible Investment. ...

Though written Meenakshi, the word is pronounced meen (fish) aakshi (eyes).

The stotram Meenakshi Pancha Ratnam (five jewels of Meenakshi) [1] is an incantation to her.

Literary references

A Tamil poem shows the goddess Meenakshi as a girl washing crockery and pots (which consist of all the worlds). This is a daily task, because her husband Shiva repeatedly messes up the universe, which Meenakshi must once more sort out and clean.

Shiva wanders through the courtyard of space
destroying your work again and again,
and then comes before you dancing.
You never get angry.
Every day, you just pick up the vessels.

In thirty words, Meenakshi becomes a global icon for all who deal with 'impossible' children (or husbands).^[1] Themes and activities of early childhood run through the poems. God in the little child is worshipped and protected amidst the toys in the kitchen and back yard.

Winning over maya (illusion) is just the realisation of Truth. This is what the Lord can do for us. This is the purpose of all scriptures. This Realisation is the establishment of the symbol (Linga-sthApanaM) of the Light of the Self. Lord Rama did this on the shores of the Ocean just before He crossed over to Lanka. The Lord Shiva as Sundaresvara did a similar pratiSThApanaM (winning over maya) on the day of his wedding with the Goddess Minakshi. Throughout the three worlds the establishment of the sphaTika-lingaM as the unique expression of the Truth in one’s heart augurs for the victory over the mysterious prakRti.^[2] It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Maya (illusion). ...

References

1. ^ Richman, Paula (1997). Extraordinary Child: Poems from a South Asian devotional genre. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press. 
2. ^ Visvanatha Sastri, R. (1954). The Great Ocean of Gita-Nectar.