Meenakshi sundareswar temple madurai

 Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple, also known as Meenakshi Amman Thirukkovil, 

a historic Hindu temple located on the southern bank of the Vaigai River in the temple city of Madurai, Tamil Nadu. 

It is dedicated to the goddess Meenakshi, a form of Parvati, her consort Sundareśvarar, a form of Shiva and her brother Aḻagar, a form of Vishnu.

The temple represents a confluence of the Shaivism, Shaktism and Vaishnavism denominations of Hinduism.

The temple  with the goddess  is mentioned in 6th-century CE texts. This temple is one of the Paadal Petra Sthalams, (Shiva temples praised in the verses of Tamil Saiva Nayanars of the 6th-9th century CE.)

Arulmigu Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple

அருள்மிகு திருக்காமக்கோட்டம் உடைய ஆளுடைய நாச்சியார் உடனாகிய திருவாலவாய் அண்ணல் திருக்கோவில் [1]

The city derived its name Aalavai, from the unique way in which Shiva's snake encircled itself with its tail in its mouth, marking a boundary around the city. The city derived its name Aalavai, from the unique way in which Shiva's snake encircled itself with its tail in its mouth, marking a boundary around the city. 

Temple tank: Potramarai Kulam (Golden-Lotus Pond)

Pandyan architecture over 40 Inscriptions

temple was built by Pandyan King Sadayavarman Kulasekaran I (r. 1190–1216). He built the main portions of the three-storeyed Gopuram at the entrance of Sundareswarar Shrine and the central portion of the Goddess Meenakshi Shrine, which are some of the earliest surviving parts of the temple. 

Maravarman Sundara Pandyan I built a gopuram in 1231, then Avanivendaraman, later rebuilt, expanded and named as Sundara Pandya Thirukkopuram.

Chitra gopuram (W), also known as Muttalakkum Vayil, was built by Maravarman Sundara Pandyan II (1238-1251). This gopuram is named after the frescoes and reliefs that depict secular and religious themes of Hindu culture. It was rebuilt after the 14th-century damage, its granite structure was renovated by Kumara Krishnappar after 1595.

Though the temple has historic roots, most of the present structure was rebuilt after the 14th century, further repaired, renovated and expanded in the 17th century by Tirumala Nayaka.

In the early 14th century, the armies of Delhi Sultanate led by Malik Kafur plundered the temple, looted it of its valuables and destroyed the Madurai temple town along with many other temple towns of South India.

Vijayanagara Empire rulers  rebuilt the core and reopened the temple.

In the 16th century, the temple complex was further expanded and fortified by the Nayak ruler Vishwanatha Nayakar and later others. 

The complex has numerous sculpted pillared halls such as Aayirankaal (1000-pillared hall), Kilikoondu-mandapam, Golu-mandapam and Pudu-mandapam. 

the temple includes Vishnu in many narratives, sculptures and rituals as he is considered to be Meenakshi's brother.This has made this temple and Madurai as the "southern Mathura", one included in Vaishnava texts.

According to the inscriptions found inside the temple, the deity goddess was originally called as Kaamakottam Udaiya Thiru Aalavaai Naachiyaar (Tamil : அருள்மிகு காமக்கோட்டம் உடைய திரு ஆலவாய் நாச்சியார்) which means the Goddess of Thiru Alavaai (Madurai).

Meenakshi (Sanskrit: मीनाक्षी, lit. 'Mīnākṣī', Tamil: மீனாட்சி, lit. 'Mīṉāṭci') is a term meaning "fish-eyed",derived from the words mina ("fish") and akshi ("eyes").

She was earlier known by the Tamil name Thadadakai ("fish-eyed one"), which was called later as Meenakshi.

Legend

The goddess Meenakshi is the principal deity of the temple, unlike most Shiva temples in South India where Shiva is the principal deity.

According to the Tamil text Tiruvilaiyatarpuranam, King Malayadwaja Pandya and his wife Kanchanamalai performed a Yajna seeking a son for succession.Instead, a daughter was born out of the fire who was already 3 years old and had three breasts. 

Shiva intervened and said that the parents should treat her like a son, and when she met her husband, she will lose the third breast. They followed the advice. The girl grew up, the king crowned her as the successor and when she met Shiva, his words came true, she took her true form of Meenakshi.

this may reflect the matrilineal traditions in South India and the regional belief that "penultimate [spiritual] powers rest with the women", gods listen to their spouse, and that the fates of kingdoms rest with the women.

The marriage of Meenakshi and Shiva was a grand event, with all gods, goddesses and living beings gathered. Vishnu is believed to be the brother of Meenakshi, giving her away to Shiva at the wedding.

History

The town of Madurai is ancient and one mentioned in Sangam era texts.[dated to be from the 1st to 4th century CE.

Some early Tamil texts call Madurai as Koodal, and these portray it as a capital and a temple town where every street radiated from the temple. Goddess Meenakshi is described as the divine ruler, who along with Shiva were the primary deities that the southern Tamil kingdoms such as the Pandya dynasty revered.

The early texts imply that a temple existed in Madurai by the mid-6th century.In medieval literature and inscriptions, it is sometimes referred to as Kadambavanam (lit. "forest of Kadamba") or Velliambalam (lit. "silver hall" where Shiva danced). 

It was described to be the Sangam of scholars, or a place where scholars meet. It is mentioned in the Tamil text Tiruvilayadalpuranam and the Sanskrit text Halasya Mahatmya.

Early Tamil texts mention the temple and its primary deity by various epithets and names. Thirugnanasambandar, the Saiva saint of Saiva philosophy for example, mentioned this temple in the 7th century, and described the deity as Aalavaai Iraivan.

The origin of the temple is mentioned in these early Tamil texts, some in the regional Puranam genre of literature. All of these place the temple in ancient times and include a warrior goddess, but the details vary significantly and are inconsistent with each other. 

Some link to it deities they call Aalavaai Iraivan and Aalavaai Annal, or alternatively Angayar Kanni Ammai. 

Some link its legend to other deities such as Indra who proclaim the primacy of the goddess, while some describe Hindu gods appearing before ancient kings or saints urging wealthy merchants to build this temple in the honour of a goddess. 

One legend describes a childless king and queen performing yajna for a son, they get a daughter who inherits the kingdom, conquers the earth, meets Shiva ultimately, marries him, continues to rule from Madurai, and the temple memorializes those times. 

Scholars have attempted to determine the history of the temple from inscriptions found in and outside Madurai, as well as comparing the records relating to South Indian dynasties. These largely post-date the 12th century.

before the colonial era, the temple complex itself was inside another layer of the old city's fortified walls. The British demolished this layer of fortification in the early 19th century. The surviving plan of the temple complex places it within the old city, one defined by a set of concentric squares around the temple.

The ancient temple complex was open. The courtyard walls were added over time in response to the invasion and the plunder of the temple complex. According to the text Thirupanimalai, the Vijayanagara commander Kumara Kampana after completing his conquest of Madurai, rebuilt the pre-existing structure and built defensive walls around the temple in the 14th century.

The four tallest gopurams on the outer walls alone depict nearly 4,000 mythological stories.

Nayaka Mandapam in the northeastern part of second courtyard in 1526. This mandapa houses the famed Nataraja statue with his "right" leg up in dance mudra, instead of the left leg typically found in Nataraja bronzes.

Who built?