My first morning in Madurai - the temple city and befittingly, I made my first trip to the Meenakshi Temple, Madurai and I was truly feeling blessed. This temple is dedicated to Shiva- Parvati and the chief deity here is Meenakshi, the other name for Parvati. Madurai is synonymous with the temple and tourists visiting Madurai have the Meenakshi Temple definitely on their agenda. The popularity of the temple is such that it is estimated that close to 15,000 visitors come to the temple every day while on Fridays the number increases by another 10,000. The temple has prominent reference in the Tamil literature and it continues to hold a very significant position in the lives of all the people who live in Madurai and also for the people who visit Madurai for whatever reason.
The temple architecture is very important since it is allegedly believed that the city of Madurai has been redesigned in accordance with the Shilpa Shastras and also in reference with the shape of the temple. The temple is one of the few temples that have four gateways or gopurams as they are called, in the four directions. The gopurams are adorned by miniature carvings that have depictions of animals, demons and Gods. It is also believed that the temple has always been in the center of the city like a lotus and the streets emanating from the temple premise are like its petals. I was in awe of the aura that the temple generated. It is like this inseparable part without which nothing would click in Madurai. Like an old guardian under whose custody Madurai flourished or breathed.
I ventured around the Meenakshi Temple, Madurai and came across the Temple Tank. Much has been written online about this temple tank and it still remains a mystery to me how the temple tank is considered a judge for the literary works. It is believed that the poorly written transcripts would sink in the tank while the better ones would float! With so much history and in the presence of such divinity, I may have lost track of time. But it was lunch time and I made my way to the Murugan Idli Shop, Madurai.