Meenakshi Amman
Temple – History
The history of Madurai dates back thousands of years-
almost to 6th century B.C. It was a key commercial center for the Pandya
dynasty that ruled the place. The temple is said to have been constructed
somewhere around this time Pandyan Kings.
There’s a lot of myth around the temple. The Meenakshi temple is believed to have been
founded by Indra (king of Deva celestial deities).While he was on a pilgrimage to
atone for his misdeeds. He felt his burden lifting as he neared
the swayambu lingam (self formed lingam, a representation of Shiva
used for worship in temples) of Madurai. He ascribed this miracle to the lingam and
constructed the temple to enshrine it. Indra worshipped Shiva, who caused
golden lotuses to appear in the nearby pool.
Tamil Literature speaks of the temple over the last two
millennia. Tirugnanasambandar, the famous Hindu saint of Saiva
philosophy, mentioned this temple as
early as the 7th century, and described the deity as Alavai Iraivan. The temple
is believed to have been sacked by the infamous Muslim invader Malik
Kafur in 1310 and all the
ancient elements were destroyed.
The initiative to rebuild the structure was taken by
first Nayak king of Madurai, Viswanatha Nayak (1559–1600)
under the supervision of Ariyanatha Mudaliar, the prime minister of the Nayak
Dynasty and the founder of
the Poligar
System. The original design
by Vishwanatha Nayak in 1560 was substantially expanded to the current
structure during the reign of Thirumalai
Nayak (1623–55). He took
considerable interest in erecting many complexes inside the temple. His major
contributions are the Vasantha Mandapam for
celebrating vasanthorsavam (spring festival) and Kilikoondu
Mandapam (corridor of parrots). The corridors of the temple tank
and Meenatchi Nayakar Mandapam were built by Rani
Mangammal.
Rous Peter (1786–1828), the Collector of Madurai in
1812, was nicknamed 'Peter Pandian’ as he respected and treated people of all
faiths equally. He donated a set of golden stirrups studded with diamonds and
red stones to the temple. Goddess Meenatchi is believed to have saved Rous
Peter from a fatal incident. He also wished that after his death, his body be
buried in a position that would enable his eyes to face the temple.
During the period of early pandyan kings, the king taxed
the people for constructing this temple. People paid taxes and donations in the
form of gold and silver. But the king wanted contribution as low as a bag of
rice which would help in feeding the masons who constructed the temple. So the
kings collected one handful of rice daily from every house. This would make few
bags of rice in the month end. Thus people from all sectors of life contributed
in building the temple. Thus, every family has an emotional attachment towards
the temple.