Imagine approaching the temple complex, where you are greeted by a towering gate more than fifteen stories high, covered with 1,500 brightly painted sculptures of divine and demonic figures. It's overwhelming and confusing, but it's just a taste of what awaits the pilgrim or seer at Meenakshi Temple in the southern Indian city of Madurai. With its many towers and associated sacred spaces, it is an active continuation of the ancient religious and artistic traditions of South India. Today, about 20,000 people visit the nearly 700,000-square-foot Meenakshi temple every day, including two main shrines and dozens of smaller shrines. It is flanked by high walls and gates and is a wonderful collection of indoor and outdoor spaces: small, narrow sanctuaries, great halls, low and high ceilings, dark, light. confusion, quiet spaces and chaos. In total, it contains approximately 30,000 sculptures.
, Imagine approaching the temple complex, where you are greeted by a towering gate more than fifteen stories high, covered with 1,500 brightly painted sculptures of divine and demonic figures. It's overwhelming and confusing, but it's just a taste of what awaits the pilgrim or seer at Meenakshi Temple in the southern Indian city of Madurai. With its many towers and associated sacred spaces, it is an active continuation of the ancient religious and artistic traditions of South India. Today, about 20,000 people visit the nearly 700,000-square-foot Meenakshi temple every day, including two main shrines and dozens of smaller shrines. It is flanked by high walls and gates and is a wonderful collection of indoor and outdoor spaces: small, narrow sanctuaries, great halls, low and high ceilings, dark, light. confusion, quiet spaces and chaos. In total, it contains approximately 30,000 sculptures. It was founded by God and ruled by a divine couple Many sacred places and buildings in India have mythical origins, and the city of Madurai in the state of Tamil Nadu, near the southern tip of the peninsula, is no exception. According to legend, more than 3,500 years ago, the god Indra erected a small tower on top of a naturally formed rock as a sign of devotion to Shiva, one of the most important deities of the Hindu pantheon. (Shiva, generally considered the god of destruction, also has creative and masculine qualities.) Other gods followed the example of Indra and began to worship there. Soon, one of the devotees saw the wonderful scene of the deities worshiping the lingam and informed the local king, Kulashekhara Pandya, who built a temple at the site.
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