MADURAI

                                           

We started our drive from Trichy to our next temple town, Madurai.

The tour company has the tradition of celebrating birthdays / wedding anniversaries of guests, if they happen to fall on the tour days. 

Well, it was my birthday and the tour managers celebrated it in their own sweet way before we started our drive, with a cute gesture - a sash, chocolate and a gift from Veena World for the birthday girl. The group members too showered me with their greetings. 

After an hour, we had a brief coffee halt. When we resumed our drive, I conducted 'Musical Tambola', distributing custom-made 'Housie' (Bingo) tickets I had made from home. 

Everyone participated with gusto and enjoyed the game; the winner got the prize and the rest were satisfied with chocolates.

Singers in the group presented melodious numbers; some shared interesting anecdotes ... there was not a dull moment during the three hour drive.

We reached Hotel Germanus at 2 pm and checked in our rooms; then went for lunch. We just had time to stretch our legs.

We got ready and started for Meenakshi Amman temple at 3.30 pm. Due to traffic, it took us half an hour to reach there. 

The coach dropped us near the temple. We had to walk for ten minutes to the temple.

                                                                           

We were met by our local guide, who was fluent in Hindi, a rarity in Tamil Nadu. Small shops lined the lane to the temple. Our tour manager instructed all of us to leave all our bags, along with whatever cosmetics, snacks, electronic items and footwear in a particular shop. Cell phones were handed over to one of the tour manager who was not coming inside the temple. 

There was strict checking at the entrance. One of our group members unknowingly had his earphones in his pocket. He had to go back to the shop and hand it over there. Only wallet was allowed, and water bottle.

Our guide explained details about the temple complex. 

Meenakshi Amman Temple is a historic Hindu temple dedicated to Meenakshi, a form of Parvati, and her consort, Sundareshwar, a form of Shiva, located at the center of the ancient temple city of Madurai. The goddess Meenakshi is the principal deity of the temple, unlike most Shiva temples in South India where Shiva is the principal deity. with the vimanas above the garbhagrihas (sanctums) of Meenakshi and Sundaresvara gilded with gold. Meenakshi is typically visited before Sundareswarar by the pilgrims, as she is considered the primary deity of the complex. But the shrine for Sundareswarar is the largest within the complex while the shrine for Meenakshi is smaller. Both the shrines have gold plated Vimanam (tower over sanctum) that can be seen from a great distance in the west through the apertures of two successive towers. The tall sculpture of Ganesh carved of single stone located outside the Sundareswarar shrine in the path from Meenashi shrine is called the Mukuruny Vinayakar.

The restored complex now houses 14 gopurams (gateway towers), numerous sculpted pillared halls such as Ayirakkal (1,000 pillar hall), Kilikoondu-mandapam, Golu-mandapam and Pudu-mandapam. Its shrines are dedicated to Hindu deities and Shaivism scholars.

According to a legend, 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 year old and had three breasts. Shiva intervened and told the parents to treat her like a son, assuring them that when she'd meet her husband, she would lose the third breast. They followed the advice. When the girl grew up, the king crowned her as the successor and .... when she met Shiva, his words came true, and she took her true form of Meenakshi.

The marriage of Meenakshi and Shiva was the biggest event, with all gods, goddesses and living beings gathering. Vishnu is believed to be the brother of Meenakshi. (My logical question is, if so, why did the parents perform yajna in the first place!) Vishnu gave her away to Shiva at the wedding. So the temple is not only a major pilgrimage destination within the Shaivism tradition, but also includes Vishnu in sculptures and rituals as he is considered to be Meenakshi's brother.

Thus the temple is also significant for a bonding, protective relationship between Shaivism and Vaishnavism traditions of Hinduism, by making Shiva the husband of Meenakshi, and Vishnu her brother, a significant relationship in Dravidian kinship system. The temple highlights the cultural concept of woman as not only the 'sumangali' or 'auspicious married woman' who lives with her husband but also the independent, organizer of the social connections - who is central to Tamilian life. So Meenakshi herself is a central part of the Shaktism tradition of Hinduism, and represented as the dominant figure of the pair in this temple. The marriage of the goddess and god is a symbolic paradigm for human marriage. The temple thus symbolically celebrates all three of its major traditions.

  

The temple is a popular site for Hindu weddings, where only the short main ceremony is conducted in the temple, followed by other rituals and reception held elsewhere.

Our guide said that the temple doors would open after 5 pm. We had an option of paid / free darisanam (yes, once again). The paid darisanam (viewing) was for Rs 100. Everyone opted for that. I also paid the amount for the both of us without giving a look in my husband's direction. I'm not sure what the others from our group felt about that after the previous day's incident, but they showed no reaction!

We fell in line, waited for half an hour. The door opened. Another 15 minutes, and our turn came. We followed our guide inside the temple.

First, we prayed to Lord Ganapati. Next it was Meenakshi Amman. We prayed to her, and felt blessed to get the sacred 'Meenakshi kunkumam' (kumkum / vermilion sindoor powder). After that, we bowed to Nandi (the sacred bull) and then to Sundareswarar.

As we were coming out, we viewed the golden top through an opening.

Then we did 'saashtanga namaskaram' (complete prostration). Our guide informed us that as we walked out of the temple complex, we should not offer alms, not drink water or eat snacks for some time. We were also supposed to wear footwear only 10 minutes later - all these to retain the positive energy passed into us. 

We came out of the temple, I just managed to get a picture clicked - felt disappointed at not having got a chance to take any pics. 

We then walked back to the shop, collected our possessions, and put on our footwear. It was a sari shop, how could the ladies resist the temptation of delving into the pile of saris and pick up a couple! Madurai is famous for cotton saris. We made sure to buy a few packets of the auspicious Madurai Meenakshi Amman kunkumam (sindoor powder) for my friends as 'prasadam'. And of course all of us ladies in the group decorated our hair (even the ones with short hair) with fragrant jasmine flowers, sold all along the lane. Actually Madurai is famous for 'marikkozhundu' - small fragrant green leaves, which are stringed along with jasmine and orange 'kanakambaram' flowers (and sold as the colorful 'kadambam'). Another specialty of the place is a cooling drink called 'jigar thanda' (meaning cool liver), sold by roadside vendors - the basic ingredients being milk, almond gum, sarsaparilla root syrup and ice cream - I had to resist the temptation of tasting that - I would have done that if I were younger. We have to be careful about what we consume now. 

We also made a round of small shops selling curios. Then we were sent by autorikshaws to our hotel, just twenty minutes away.

                                     

After dinner, we retired for the night.

Next day, as usual, breakfast was a hearty spread, with idlis, vadas, parathas, pongal, with sambar and chutney .... dosas were made to order and served hot; filter coffee to complete the breakfast! Simply divine!

We checked out of the hotel and started for Rameswaram.