Meenakshi temple is one of the famous South temples in Madurai Tamil Nadu. It is situated on the southern bank of river Vaigai. It is devoted to Goddess Parvati and her husband Lord Shiva. It is also called Meenakshi Sudareshwarar Temple. This temple is different from other temples because its style art, rock material and culture are different. It is a very beautiful temple. It was built in 1190 CE-1205CE by King Sadayavarman Kuleshekarar. It is 2500years old temple. It has 14 entrance towers and height approx. 45-50 meters. It has many devotees who visit temple daily in a day. It’s revenue in a year approx. 6 crores.
The history behind Meenakshi temple was one day king Kulasekhara dreamt lord shiva came to him and give instructions to build Meenakshi trample. He started building temple according to given instructions by Lord Shiva. It is written in Tamil religious text that it was built in the 1st to 4th century C.E. about the temple. It was later destroyed by the Muslim invaders in the 16th century. The temple was looted by the Muslim sultanate Malik Kafur in the 14th century. Vijayanagar king defeated the Muslim sultanate and after winning he rebuilt the temple and reopened it in the 16th century. In the 16th century and early 17th, the temple was more elaborate and progressed. Madurai temple is also known as the city of festivals because according to the Tamil calendar, April and May goddess Parvati’s marriage is celebrated for 10 days.
