Madurai

Madurai Meenakshi temple till date stands to be of greatest architectural landmark that is also considered one among several Shiva temples of Tamil Nadu.
The original name of Madurai Meenakshi temple is Meenakshi-Sundareswarar temple which was built by a Pandya King Kulasekara has gained prominence as one of the greatest Tamil Nadu’s Shiva temples. Madurai Meenakshi temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva referred to as Sundareswarar meaning Beautiful Lord and his companion Goddess Parvati called as Meenakshi. This Madurai Meenakshi temple is one of the reasons for the city to gain so much popularity; it also has 14 gopurams apart from 2 Golden gopurams to depict the main deities of the temple.
There are several legends to support the existence of Madurai Meenakshi temple and the reason for deities to take place as Meenakshi Sundareswarar here in Madurai. According to the one of the legends, Goddess Parvati appeared as an answer to the prayers of Second Pandya King who along with his wife was performing a holy puja to be blessed with a child.
Though Madurai Meenakshi temple is famous for Meenakshi and Lord Shiva, this temple also serves as abode to several other gods and goddesses. Lord Shiva’s shrine is at the centre of the temple which indicates the dominance of lord over the entire temple and also shows that all other deities are later on additions to the temple. There is also a shrine for Lord Ganesha that was carved out of single stone and was discovered when excavation programs were done around the temple lake.
Madurai meenakshi temple is also famous for the thousand pillar hall which was built in 1569 by the then Prime Minister and General of Viswanatha Nayak, the first Nayak for Madurai. There is also a Kalyana Mandapam in Madurai Meenakshi temple to the south of this pillared hall where marriage of Shiva and Parvati is celebrated every year.