Banjara_the nomadic: Southern Sojourn 1

Anyone who is visiting the temple town of Madurai, keep this temple in his/her bucket list to visit, because when the name Madurai comes to mind, the next word related to it would be the Meenakshi temple, and we were no different. So, accordingly as we had planned earlier to visit this temple, and hence we even woke up early so that we can start things as early as possible. Since, Madurai gets very hot (40-45℃), so it's advisable to start early.

A view of one of the entry gates to the temple

By 7 in the morning we started our day trip, and to begin with we chose to visit Meenakshi temple. Today was Vijaya Dashami/Dusherra, the day when Rama killed Ravana. However, in TN Dusherra is celebrated by giving offerings at temples.

Now before getting into stuffs about the temple visit, lemme brief u all about the temple. Meenakshi Amman Temple is a historic Hindu temple which located on the southern bank of the Vaigai River in the temple city of Madurai. It is dedicated to Parvati, known as Meenakshi, and her consort, Lord Shiva, here named Sundareswarar. The temple forms the heart and lifeline of the 2,500-year-old city of Madurai and is a significant symbol for the Tamil people. So, as it says that it's a very old temple, hence it attracts a good number of devotees. The temple complex is divided into a number of concentric quadrangular enclosures contained by high masonry walls. It is one of the few temples in Tamil Nadu to have four entrances facing four directions. The city was laid out in the shape of square with a series of concentric streets culminating from the temple. These squares continue to retain their traditional names, Aadi, Chittirai, Avani-moola and Masi streets, corresponding to Tamil month names.

The temple complex is in around 45 acres (180,000 m²). The temple is surrounded by gateway towers also known as Gopurams. Each gopuram is a multi-storeyed structure, covered with thousands of stone figures of animals, gods and demons painted in bright hues. Inside the temple there is a huge pond or a central tank also known as 'The pond with the Golden Lotus'. The Meenakshi Nayakka Mandapam or the Hall of 1000 pillars has two rows of pillars carved with images of yali (mythological beast with body of lion and head of an elephant), commonly used as the symbol of Nayak power. Although the Thousand Pillar Hall contains 985 pillars instead of 1000 carved pillars. No I didn't count them. All these above information can be gathered from the booklets that are available at the temple shops. Costs are nominal between ₹10 & ₹50 (prices may vary).

Now the day we went it was Dusherra, so some special offerings were taking place and because of this there was a huge rush of worshipers. Once in, we saw a huge tank (pond) known as 'The pond with the Golden Lotus'. And no there was no Lotus in it, but there was a pillar of golden color. Now on seeing the huge serpentine queue we were pretty sure it would be late afternoon till we could have a darshan. Now comes a twist in the tale. A man approached us in complete white attire and escorted us to a counter where it was written ₹30 & ₹100 (rest was in Tamil, so could make it out). Not knowing what it was for, so we paid ₹30 and got a coupon, which lead us to another queue inside the main sanctum also known as Thousand Pillar Hall. Once in we realized that we paid for special darshan queue. The ₹100 one was for VIP darshan with a guided tour pf the sanctum, which was empty. Anyways, while waiting in the queue, I tried counting the pillars but couldn't make it over 30.

Moving over touring the entire temple and the main sanctum took us about 2 hours time, which included waiting in queue as well. Unlike temples in Northern India, temples down south doesn't have a separate queue for ladies & gents.

Now, there are some things to be mentioned for those people who are looking forward to visit the temple. There is a stall, where one can safely deposit shoes. It is not chargeable, but one can pay donation of small denominations. Photography is strictly prohibited in the temple, however one can carry their cell phones in, but don't try to take pics. I am sharing some more pics of the temple. There is a large parking lot on the Northern side of the temple.