All You Ever Wanted to Know About Meenakshi Temple and More Than You Ever Needed To Know

These past few days have been kind of quiet, and I am enjoying them. I haven't gone into Madurai for a while and have been spending more time talking to Esther Amma, helping her cook, and spending time with the children.

However, recently I went back to Meenakshi Temple, partially because it is one of the few things to do in Madurai besides eat or shop, and also because it really is beautiful. I decided since this was actually my third visit, (although just walking around outside of it), I should learn a little bit more about the temples.



Interesting Facts :)

• Meenakshi isn't a goddess, she is an avatar of the Hindu Goddess Parvati.

• Most Female Hindu Goddesses/Avatars don't have their own giant temples, so hers is pretty rare.

• Meenakshi apparently means FISH EYED. (mina = Fish Aksi = Eyes)

• Just as Parvati is a consort of Shiva, Meenakshi is assosiated with Sundareswarar, Shiva's Avatar. However, at Meenakshi Temple, Meenakshi is the main deity while in most temples, Shiva (or his Avatars) are the main deities while Parvati (and her avatars) are the "supporting deities"

• Meenakshi's brother is the God Vishnu

• Meenakshi Temple is one of the largest temples in Tamil Nadu and one of the few to have four entrances, each facing a different direction.

• They used to keep green parrots in the hallways and they were trained to say Meenakshi

• There are around 50 priests at Meenakshi Temple who perform rituals both on a daily basis and for festivals. Some famous festivals include, the Meenakshi Thirukalayana, Navrathi, and Shivrathi. Meenakshi Thirukalayana is the most important one, it is the "Divine Marriage of Meenakshi" and is celebrated every April. The celebration brings together not only Meenakshi worshipers, but also Saivas, (Shiva Worshipers) and Vaishnavas (Vishnu worshipers).

The girls during their "super cleaning" Arunadevi is ontop of the shelf.

On This Visit, I was "invited" to see Meenakshi Temples from a higher viewpoint. A tailor started following me around because he was fascinated that I knew some basic Tamil and insisted that I go to this place to see it from a rooftop at "no charge." He took me to a store and I quickly went to the rooftop, took some pictures and left. All in all, it was an experience :)

Another of my rooftop pictures :)

Viji

I bought a beginners guide to Hinduism (more like an illustrated children's book, but hope to learn more about it. Perhaps I will take a class while at college :)