MEENAKSHI TEMPLE, MADURAI

THE TEMPLE BECOMES A FORT…..

WITH THE GROWING UNCERTAINTIES OF TEMPORAL

POWER,THE BUILDING OF NEW ARCHITECTURAL
MASTERPIECES TO THE “GLORY OF GOD” WAS HARDLY
POSSIBLE.

THE KEEPERS OF THE TEMPLE ALSO REQUIRED BUILDINGS

MORE OF A DEFENSIVE CHARACTER RATHER THAN OF AN
INNOVATIVE NATURE.

THUS EXISTING TEMPLES BEGAN TO ACQUIRE SEVERAL

CONCENTRIC RINGS OF GROWTH
THIS ENSURED THAT THE ADDITIONAL HALL’S WERE
CONVENIENTLY LOCATED MORE OR LESS EQUIDISTANT
FROM THE SHRINE.
AND THE FORT BECOMES A CITY…..

•OVER A PERIOD OF TIME WITH THE ACCRETION OF

GREATER RELIGIOUS MERIT AND PILGRIMS ARRIVING IN
THOUSANDS,THE TEMPLE PRECINCTS HAD TO BE
ENLARGED FURTHER.

•THE PRECEDENTS OF THE METHODOLOGY OF GROWTH

HAD NOW BEEN ESTABLISHED.MORE SPACE WAS
ACQUIRED BY CONSTRUCTING YET ANOTHER,EVEN
LARGER,CONCENTRIC WALL.

•THE ORIGINAL OPEN COURT SURROUNDING THE GARBHA

GRIHA WAS ROOFED OVER.THE SACRED IMAGE OF THE
DEITY ACQUIRED AN EVEN MORE MYSTERIOUS QUALITY

•TANKS WERE BUILT FOR PILGRIMS TO PERFORM THE

RITUAL ABLUTIONS.

•THUS MORE SPACES WERE ADDED,DICTATED BY THEIR

FUNCTIONAL USE RATHER THAN ARCHITECTURAL
HARMONY .

•ULTIMATELY,THE FORT LIKE DESIGN OF A TEMPLE AS A

SERIES OF CONCENTRIC FORTIFICATIONS ADORNED
WITH MASSIVE GOPURAMS BECAME AN ACCEPTED
“STYLE” OF TEMPLE BUILDING.
THE MEENAKSHI TEMPLE AT MADURAI…

THUS THE MEENAKSHI TEMPLE GREW

WITH ADDITIONS AND ALTERATIONS
BASED ON THE EXISTING METHODOLOGY
OF GROWTH.

SPACES AROUND THE SHRINE WERE

ENDOWED WITH DIMINISHING RELIGIOUS
VALUE DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL
TO THEIR DISTANCE FROM THE DEITY IN
THE SHRINE

THE INNERMOST COURTS WERE THE

KITCHENS OF THE BRAHMINS,THE
PAVILLIONS FOR THE DANCING GIRLS
AND THE TREASURY

THE TEMPLE STANDS AT THE CENTRE OF

THE TOWN WITH THE MAIN ROADS
RUNNING ROUGHLY PARRALLEL TO THE
FOUR MAIN WALLS OF THE TEMPLE.
THE ARCHITECTURE IS PURELY DRAVIDIAN
CHARACTERISTICS BEING:

-COLOSSOL GOPURAS DOMINATING THE SURROUNDING

LANDSCAPE
-CONCENTRIC RECTANGULAR ENCLOSURES
-USE OF FLAT ROOF
-ABSENCE OF ARCH OR DOME
-PARTIALITY FOR LONG GALLERIES INTERSPERSED WITH
SCULPTURED PILLARS
-DELICATE SCULPTURE WORKED IN PONDEROUS
MATERIAL

THE AXES OF THE NORTH AND SOUTH AND THE EAST AND
WEST GOPURAS INTERSECT AT THE PLACE WERE THE
SHRINE OF THE PRINCIPAL DEITY IS LOCATED
A BRIEF HISTORY…

The Sri Meenakshi Sundareswara temple and Madurai city originated together.
According to tradition, Indra once committed a sin when he killed a demon, who was then performing
penance
While passing through a forest of Kadamba trees in Pandya land, he felt relieved of his burden
.
He was told that there was a Shivalinga under a Kadamba tree and beside a lake.
Certain that it was the Linga that had helped him; he worshipped it and built a small temple around it.
It is believed that it is this Linga, which is still under worship in the Madurai temple.
The shrine is called the "Indra Vimana".

The divine wedding of the masculine and feminine

cosmic principles of the Universe,shiva and shakti.took
place on Earth in madurai,the meenakshi temple
encloses the spot where it took place
ABOUT THE TEMPLE…

ASHTA SHAKTI MANDAPA

It is a convention in this temple that the devotee
first worships goddess meenakshi.Therefore
while there are four other entrances into the
temple,under huge gopuras in the four cardinal
directions,it is customary to enter not thru any
of them ,but, thru this mandapa.
This Mandapa is an impressive structure, with a
hemispherical ceiling. It is 14m long and 5.5m
wide.
There are bas-reliefs all over the place.
SAMAGAM MEENAKSHI NAYAKAR MANDAPA

Walking westwards from the ashta shakti

mandapa,you enter the meenakshi nayakar
mandapa.The Meenakshi Nayakar Mandapa is a
huge hall, 42.9m long and 33.5m wide. It contains
110 stone columns, each 6.7m high.
There are yalis in the capital and delicate reliefs
below. Some of the carvings are unfinished.
The chitra gopura stands over the entrance from
this mandapa into the shrine complex of the
goddess.It could have been the original entrance
into the sanctum,over seven tiers high it is the tallest
gopura over the shrine of the Godddess
MUDALI PILLAI MANDAPA

THE MUDALI PILLAI MANDAPA FOLLOWS THE CHITRA GOPURA.ADDED IN 1613 IT IS 183M LONG AND 7-6M
WIDE
ON ITS WALLS ARE MANY PURANIC SCENES.IT USED TO BE WITHOUT ANY NATURAL LIGHT BUT WINDOWS
WERE ADDED IN THE LAST RENOVATION.

PASSING THRU THE MUDALI MANDAPA YOU COME TO THE POTRAMARAIKULAM OR THE GOLDEN LOTUS TANK
THE GOLDEN LOTUS TANK

THIS TANK IS 165 FEET LONG AND 120 FEET WIDE.THERE ARE STONE
STEPS ON ALL FOUR SIDES.THE NORTHERN CORRIDOR LEADS DIRECTLY
TO THE SHRINE OF THE GODDESS.

THE CORRIDORS AROUND THE TANK ARE RIGHTLY CALLED THE CHITRA
MANDAPA,FOR THE WALLS CARRY PAINTINGS OF THE DIVINE SPORTS
OF THE LORD.
THE OONJAL AND KILLIKATTI MANDAPAS
THESE MANDAPAS ARE ON THE WESTERN SIDE OF THE GOLDEN LOTUS TANK.
TO THE WEST OF THE KILLIKATTI MANDAPA THERE IS A THREE TIERED GOPURA
THRU WHICH YOU CAN ENTER THE MEENAKSHI SHRINE

THE SHRINE OF THE GODDESS

THE SHRINE CONSISTS OF A SQUARE
SANCTUM,AN ARDHAMANDAPA AND A
MUKHAMANDAPA.IN THE NICHES ON
THE WALLS OF THE SHRINE ARE IMAGES OF
IKKASHAKTI IN THE SOUTH,KRIYASHAKTI IN
THE WEST AND JANASHAKTI
IN THE NORTH.THERE ARE SHRINES OF
VINAYAKA AND SUBRAMANYA IN THE OUTER
PRAKARA
SUNDARESHWARA TEMPLE
IN THE OUTER PRAKARAM THERE IS THE KADAMBHATHADI
MANDAPA AND A BIG HALL CALLED THE VELLIAMBALLAM.
THIS MANDAPA ALSO ENCLOSES THE NANDI SHRINE .

SUNDARESHWARA SHRINE
OVER THE ENTRANCE INTO THE SHRINE STANDS A
GOPURA OF FIVE STORIES.
FLANKING THE ENTRANCE ARE HUGE
DWARPALIKAS.

THE SHRINE IS A SQUARE OF 10.4 M.EIGHT

ELEPHANTS,THIRTY TWO LIONS AND
SIXTY FOUR SPORTIVE DWARVES SUPPORT ITS
BASE

OUTER WALLS HAVE THREE PROMINENT NICHES

EACH PROJECTING 1.8M.

THE VIMANA OF THE SANCTUM IS THREE STORIES

HIGH.

IN FRONT OF THE SHRINE THERE IS

,SUCCESSIVELY,AN ANTARALA, ARDHAMANDAPA,
MUKHAMANDAPA AND MAHAMANDAPA.

THERE ARE 2 PRAKARAS AND FIVE GOPURAS

THE THOUSAND PILLAR HALL

THIS MANDAPA ACTUALLY CONTAINS 985 PILLARS.

THE CENTRAL NAVE LEADS TO A SHRINE DEDICATED TO
LORD SABAPATI.

THIS MANDAPA ENCLOSES THE TEMPLE MUSEUM

OUTSIDE THIS MANDAPA TOWARDS THE WEST,ARE

THE MUSICAL PILLARS
KALAYANA MANDAPA

SPECIAL MANDAPA DEDICATED TO THE RITUAL CELEBRATION OF

THE MARRIAGE OF THE LORD WITH THE GODDESS.
THUS THE CENTER HAS A LARGE PLATFORM WHERE,ANNUALLY, THE
MARRIAGE OF LORD SUNDARESHWAR AND GODDESS MEENAKSHI IS
CELEBRATED.ON TWO OF THE WALLS ARE TWO HUGE PAINTINGS OF
THE “TWO WORLDS” OF HINDU COSMOGONY

PUDHUMANDAPA

IT IS A LARGE HALL CONTAINING 124 PILLARS ,ELABORATELY

SCULPTED WITH FIGURES OF SHIV ,MEENAKSHI AND THE 10 NAYAK
KINGS WITH THEIR CONSORTS.

ALSO CALLED VASANTHA MANDAPA AS THE SPRING FESTIVAL

IS CELEBRATED IN THIS MANDAPA IN VAIKASI (APRIL/MAY).
THE GOPURAS OF THE TEMPLE

SYMBOLOGY OF THE GOPURA

The majestic temple gopuram symbolises an individual’s

attempt at reaching spiritual heights.
The vertical and pyramidal gopuram elicits the image of
the idealised heavenly abode of God.
The majestic sculptures remind us of the efforts and
sacrifices needed to reach a life of perfection,
i.e., a spiritual apex. 
EASTERN GOPURA
OLDEST OF THE FOUR.BASE IS A STONE STRUCTURE
BUILT IN TWO STOREYS [ 34MX20M]
OVER IT THE SUPERSTRUCTURE TOWERS TO A HEIGHT OF
47M IN NINE STOREYS.

WESTERN GOPURA
BUILT BY THE PANDYAS.
48M HIGH RESTING ON A BASE THAT IS 31M X14M.
HAS NINE TIERS

SOUTHERN GOPURA
MOST ARTISTIC OF THE FOUR ALSO THE TALLEST
MEASURING 49M IN HEIGHT.UNLIKE THE OTHERS IT
IS A CURVILINEAR GOPURA

NORTHERN GOPURA