Wishing you all a very Happy and Blessed Navratri Aerial View of Meenakshi temple in Madurai.The ancient city of Madurai, more than 2,500 years old, was built by the Pandyan king, Kulashekarar, in the 6th century B.C. But the reign of the Nayaks marks the golden period of Madurai when art, architecture and learning flourished expansively. The most beautiful buildings in the city including its most famous landmark, the Meenakshi temple, were built during the Nayak rule. Located in the heart of the city of Madurai, the Meenakshi-Sundareshwarar temple is dedicated to goddess Meenakshi, the consort of lord Shiva. It has long been the focus of both Indian and international tourist attraction as well as one of the most important places of Hindu pilgrimage It is said that the people of the city wake up, not by the call of nature but by the chant of hymns at the temple. All the major festivals of Tamil Nadu are celebrated here with gaiety, most important being the Chitrai festival that is held in April/May, when the celestial marriage of Meenakshi and Sundareshwarar is celebrated, drawing a huge crowd of people from all over the state.
The sculpted pillars are adorned with the exquisite murals that celebrate the ethereal beauty of princess Meenakshi and the scenes of her wedding with Lord Shiva. At the Sundareswarar temple across the courtyard, Lord Shiva is represented as a lingam. The pillars depict scenes from the wedding of Meenakshi and Sundareswarar. There are 985 richly carved pillars here and each one surpasses the other in beauty. Meenakshi was the daughter of King Malayadwaja Pandya and Queen Kanchanamala, who was born after performing several yagnas (sacrificial rites). The three-year old girl emerged out of the fire during the final yagna. The princess Meenakshi, grew to be a beautiful young woman of great valour who conquered several lands and challenged the mightiest kings. It was then revealed that the princess was actually an incarnation of Parvati who came to earth to honour a promise given to Kanchanamala in her previous life. Thus Shiva came to Madurai as Sundareshwarar to marry Meenakshi and the two ruled over the kingdom for many years before they left for their heavenly abode from the spot where the temple now stands. The temple has four Rajagopurams or majestic towers, there are five towers on top of the sanctum sanctorum of the Lord, three on top of the sanctum sanctorum of the Goddess and two golden towers or gopurams, all which have been exquisitely designed and sculptured. All fourteen towers have been segregated based on the stages they are... The eight forms of Goddess Sakthi the consort of Lord Shiva, Kaumari, Rowthiri, Vaishnavi, Mahalakshmi, Yangnarubini, Shyamala, Maheswari and Manonmani have been sculptured into the pillars of the mandapam individually. There are statues of Vallaba Vinayagar and Murugan at the entrance of this mandapam. There are sculptures depicting Goddess Meenakshi and Lord Shiva who took the form of a hunter and huntress to rid a Brahmin of his sin. The statues of Munivar, Mohini and Kadanthai Mudaliar are seen at the southern side of the mandapam The saying that one needs thousand eyes to view the hall of thousand pillars is not without truth. At foot of the pillars, along the centre of the mandapam are carved sculptures of Pitchadanar, Dharman, Beeman, Rathi and Veerpathirar while at the top are carvings of Agni, Veerapathirar, Manmadan, Purushamirukam, Arjunan and Mohini. Among these sculptures is one of Rathi seated on a Swan, which are quintessence of the art of sculpture with musical notes. This mandapam which is seen next to the Ashta Sakthi mandapam was constructed by Meenakshi Naicker belonging to the Naicker clan in the year 1708. This mandapam is 160 feet in length and has pillars that have been arranged in six rows. There are about 44 stone inscriptions on the walls of the corridors of the Sundareswarar shrine and that of Meenakshi Amma shrine My heartfelt pranams to Sri Sundareswarar .May all the Gods and Goddesses bless us with the bliss of devotion and faith in our hearts .. A beautiful idol of Sri Meenakshi .May we find eternal bliss in this virtual darshan of the Meenakshi temple.. Message from the teachings of Sai baba for27th September Ably Enact Your Role in the Drama of Life This world is a stage and every person is an actor. God is the play-wright who plans and decides what role one should play in the drama of life and thereby directs the play. Our duty is to perform the roles ordained by God in true spirit. Only then, the play will be exciting and successful. Having played our role ably, our lives will become fruitful. The whole of the Universe is but the creation of God Supreme. If we keenly observe what God does, we can execute the entrusted task as desired by Him. God, the Omniscient, always awaits to accommodate everyone in the Kingdom of His heart.Some instances would not favour us to perfectly execute a task and thereby lead to confusion. We will not be in a position to advance further. We feel pained when we fail to accomplish the task put forth by our beloved God. At this juncture, we should recollect the words of Baba, "If you need My help or guidance, I am ready to give it at once and at all times". This assurance of the All-Merciful Baba gives us enough courage. He transforms us into highly competent ones even though we do not have any competence. Not only does Baba decide our role but He equips us with the required talent in playing our role ably in His Divine Drama. Realizing our responsibility, let us follow in the foot-steps of Baba.
