India Guide
Tamil Nadu
Sri Meenakshi-Sundareshwarar Temple
Price: Cameras Rs30, no video cameras
Opening time: Daily 6am–12.30pm & 4–9.30pm
Enclosed by a roughly rectangular six-metre-high wall, in the manner of a fortified palace, the Sri Meenakshi-SundareshwararTemple is one of India's largest temple. Most was constructed during the Nayak period between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, but certain parts are very much older. The principal shrines (closed to non-Hindus) are those to Sundareshwar (Shiva) and his consort Meenakshi (a form of Parvati); unusually, the goddess takes precedence and is always worshipped first.
Confronted with a confusing maze of shrines, sculptures and colonnades, first-time visitors often become disoriented. Don't let that deter you. Quite apart from the estimated 33,000 sculptures to arrest your attention, the life of the temple is absolutely absorbing, and many visitors find themselves drawn back to experience it all at different times of the day. Be it the endless round of puja ceremonies, loud nagaswaram and tavil music, weddings, brahmin boys under religious instruction in the Vedas, the prostrations of countless devotees, the glittering market stalls inside the east entrance or, best of all, a festival procession, something is always going on to make this one of the most compelling places in Tamil Nadu.
Madurai takes the gopura, so prominent in other southern temples, to its ultimate extreme. The entire complex has no less than twelve such towers; set into the outer walls, the four largest soar around 46m, and are visible for miles. Each is covered with a profusion of gaily painted stucco gods and demons, with the occasional live monkey scampering and chattering among the divine images. After a referendum in the 1950s, the gopuras, which had become monochrome and dilapidated, were repainted in the vivid greens, blues, and bright reds you can see today.
The most popular entrance, on the east side, leads directly to the Shiva shrine; another entrance nearby, through a towerless gate, leads to the adjacent Meenakshi shrine deep inside. In the Ashta Shakti Mandapa ("Eight Goddesses Hallway"), a market sells puja offerings and souvenirs, from fat garlands to sky-blue plaster deities. Sculpted pillars illustrate different aspects of the goddess Shakti, and Shiva's sixty-four miracles at Madurai. Behind this hall, to the south, are stables for elephants and camels.