Minakshi Temple
The Minakshi Temple ( Tamil : மதுரை மீனாட்சி சுந்தரேசுவரர் கோயில் , in the English spelling: Meenakshi Amman Temple ; full name: Sri Minakshi Sundareshwara Temple ) is a Hindu temple in the city of Madurai in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu . It is dedicated to Minakshi , the local manifestation of the goddess Parvati , and Sundareshvara ( Shiva ), who according to myth are said to have married in Madurai. In contrast to most other Shiva temples, in Madurai it is not Shiva but the goddess that is the focus of worship. The oldest parts of the Minakshi Temple date from the Pandya period of the 12th – 13th centuries. The temple received its present form mainly during the Nayak rule in the 16th-17th centuries . Century.
The Minakshi Temple is one of the most outstanding examples of Dravidian temple architecture . As is characteristic of this architectural style, the temple has a rectangular floor plan and is built according to geometric principles. The temple complex, which is very extensive with over six hectares, consists of three concentric areas that are built around the two main shrines consecrated to Sundareshvara and Minakshi. Inside the winding temple complex there are numerous other structural elements, including corridors, several large pillared halls and a temple pond . The twelve towering gopurams (gate towers) of the temple are decorated with lavish and colorfully painted figurines and dominate the cityscape of Madurai, visible from afar. The city plan of Madurai is also based on the Minakshi Temple, which forms the center of the old town and is surrounded by several concentric ring roads.
myth
Like almost every important South Indian temple, the temple of Madurai also has its own local legend ( sthalapurana ) , which tells the mythical story of the temple. The local legend of the Minakshi Temple is titled Tiruvilaiyadarpuranam . It has come down to us in two Tamil-language versions (one by the author Perubatrapulliyur Nambi from the 12th century and one by Paranchodimunivar from the early 16th century) and a Sanskrit version with the title Halasyamahatmya . The founding legend of the Temple of Madurai is as follows:
The god Indra committed a sin by killing a brahmin . Plagued by repentance, he went from heaven to earth. As he passed through a grove of kadamba trees there, he suddenly felt relieved of his burden. Indra discovered a linga (sign of Shiva) under a kadamba tree next to a pond . Indra worshiped the linga and built a small shrine around it. One of the lingas that are worshiped in Minakshi Temple today is said to be the same linga. One day the merchant Dhanajaya spent a night in that shrine and saw the gods worshiping the linga. He reported what he had seen to the Pandya king Kulasekara, who ruled the nearby city of Manavur. On the same day, in a dream, Kulasekara had received the instruction from Shiva to build a temple and a city in the place that Dhanajaya would name him. In response to this sign, the king founded Madurai and had the temple built.
The king's successor, Malayadhvaja, had no offspring and made a sacrifice to be redeemed from his childlessness. Then Minakshi rose from the sacrificial fire in the form of a three-year-old girl who had three breasts. A voice from heaven announced to the king that the girl would lose her surplus breast as soon as she saw her future husband. When she grew up, Minakshi was crowned queen. She went out with a large army to conquer the world. After having been victorious in many battles, she came to Kailasa Mountain (the abode of the gods) and challenged the army of Shiva. When she saw Shiva step onto the battlefield, she lost her third breast and recognized him as her future husband. Shiva decided Minakshi to return to Madurai. A few days later he followed her and married her in a grand wedding ceremony. Together with Minakshi, Shiva ruled Madurai under the name of Sundara Pandya and performed many miraculous acts. Kartikeya (Murugan) was born the son of the divine couple and succeeded his parents on the throne under the name Ugra Pandya. Then Shiva and Minakshi withdrew to the temple and disappeared. The god Shiva returned again and again to perform miracles and remains the true ruler of Madurai.
history
The origins of the Minakshi Temple are difficult to pin down. The city of Madurai is one of the oldest in South India and was already there in the first centuries BC. The capital of the Pandya empire. The city is described in Tamil sangam literature (1st to 6th centuries AD) and in the travelogues of ancient Greek and Roman authors. Several works of Sangam literature mention a Shiva shrine in Madurai, but the information is too vague for it to be reliably identified with the present-day temple. There is also no evidence of the worship of the Minakshi from the early period.
The oldest parts of the current temple date from the time of the second Pandya dynasty from the 13th century. The earliest inscription comes from the reign of King Kulasekara Pandiyans (1190-1223), who is also mentioned in the local legend of the temple as the mythical founder. During his reign the two main shrines of the temple were built. His successors expanded the temple complex in the 13th century and built the first two gopurams. In 1311, Islamic troops from northern India captured Madurai and also looted the temple. After the Vijayanagar Empire ended the short-lived Muslim rule over Madurai and captured the city, the temple was restored in 1371. The kings of Vijayanagar installed military governors ( nayaks ) in Madurai , who took power after the fall of the Vijayanagar Empire in 1565. During the Nayak period, the temple of Madurai was significantly expanded and was essentially given its present form in the 16th and 17th centuries.
location
The Minakshi Temple is in the center of the right, i.e. H. Madurai's old town on the south bank of the Vaigai River. The city plan of Madurai is based on the Minakshi Temple: The temple forms the center of the old town and is surrounded by several concentric, approximately rectangular road rings that roughly follow its outlines. The inner ring of the street, Adi Street , is formed by the courtyard areas within the temple complex. Chittrai Street runs directly outside the temple walls, followed by Avani Mula Street and Masi Street from inside to outside . These ring roads are named after months on the Tamil calendar . In the respective month there is a temple festival, during which a procession is held on the corresponding street (with the exception that the processions of the months Masi and Chittrai were reversed). The outermost ring road, Veli Street , was built on the site of the city fortifications that were destroyed in the early 19th century. At right angles to the ring roads, roads in the south, west and north lead axially to the entrance gates.
With its city plan built concentrically around the Minakshi Temple, Madurai embodies the classic type of the south Indian temple city, although not with the same regularity as the ideal example of Srirangam .
architecture
overview
The Minakshi Temple covers a 258 × 241 m rectangular area with a footprint of 6.2 hectares. The six meter high surrounding wall has an entrance gate in each of the four cardinal directions, which is crowned by a massive gopuram (1–4). The lines that run between the gopurams form the main axes of the temple. They are offset a bit from the center and oriented towards the cardinal points, but rotated by 16 °.
Just as the city plan of Madurai is based on the Minakshi Temple, the temple complex itself is also built concentrically. The numerous elements that merge into one another inside the temple combine to form an angled and difficult-to-see complex. There are two main shrines inside the temple. One is dedicated to Minakshi and one to Sundareshvara (surname Shivas). The Sundareshvara Shrine (5) lies at the intersection of the main axes, the Minakshi Shrine (6) is located southwest of it. A minor axis runs parallel to the east-west main axis through the Minakshi sanctuary to the "Gate of the Eight Deities" (7) in the eastern wall. The Sundareshvara and Minakshi shrines are each surrounded by two concentric enclosing walls with additional gopurams. These include two pillar-supported walkways (prakaras) . In the courtyard of the temple, a third prakara surrounds the two sanctuaries.
In addition to the two main shrines, the temple complex includes a separate smaller shrine for the deity Javandishvara (another form of Shiva) south of the Minakshi shrine (8), a temple pond (9), three large pillared halls (mandapas) in the eastern area of the temple - the Thousand Pillar Hall (10), the Viravasantaraya Mandapa (11) and the Minakshi-Nayaka-Mandapa (12) - as well as smaller mandapas, connecting corridors and other smaller components (rooms of the temple administration, farm buildings, stables, etc.).
Gopurams
The Minakshi Temple has twelve gopurams (gate towers). As is typical of the Dravida style, its size decreases from the outside in. The four gopurams in the outermost enclosure wall reach heights of around sixty meters and dominate the cityscape of Madurai, visible from afar. They consist of a two-story base, a nine-story superstructure and a roof attachment. Their shape is pyramidal with concave lines. The superstructures are completely covered by exuberant figural decorations made up of over 1000 brightly painted stucco figures of gods, demons and mythological scenes. The decoration of the gopurams with figurines goes back to the Nayak period (16th – 17th centuries). When the Minakshi Temple was extensively renovated in 1960–63, there was a lively public debate about whether the gopurams should be monochrome or colored according to their original condition. Ultimately, the question was decided by a referendum in favor of the polychrome variant.
The oldest of the Gopurams is the East Gopuram, which was completed in 1256. It is also known as Raya Gopuram and has a footprint of 20.1 × 33.8 m and a height of 60.7 m. The West Gopuram, built in 1323, is 59.8 m high with a comparatively small base of 19.4 × 30.8 m. The South Gopuram, created in 1559, is considered to be the most beautiful of the Gopuram because of its particularly concave shape and the view that is offered over the temple pond. At 62.6 m, it is also the highest gopuram, and its footprint is 49 × 20.4 m. The North Gopuram was built between 1564 and 1572, but remained unfinished for a long time and was not completed until the 19th century. It has a footprint of 20.2 × 34 m and is 59.6 m high.
The largest of the gopurams inside the temple is the Chitra Gopuram , which is in line with the Minakshi Shrine and the Gate of the Eight Deities between the temple pond and the Minakshi Nayaka Mandapa. It has seven floors and is 45.9 m high. Seven other, significantly lower gate towers are located on the enclosing walls of the two shrines. Sundareshvara Shrine has five gopurams - four five-story in the outer wall, one three-story in the inner one. There are two gopurams in the enclosure wall of the Minakshi Shrine.
Traditionally, the main entrance to the temple leads through the gate of the eight deities. Today, however, the gopurams are mostly used as entrances. The northern Gopuram is reserved for the temple priests. The East Gopuram has long been considered a disaster because, according to legend, a temple servant threw himself into his death from it in the 17th century.
Shrines
The Minakshi Temple has two main shrines. From an architectural point of view, the Sundareshvara Shrine is the more important of the two due to its size and its location in the center of the main axes of the temple and northeast of the Minakshi Shrine. Both shrines are built on the same principle. In the center is the Holy of Holies ( Garbhagriha ) with the idols. The Holy of Holies of Sundareshvara Shrine has a base area of 10 × 10 m, the Minakshi Shrine is 7.5 × 7.5 m. To the east of the Holy of Holies are two antechambers ( Ardhamandapa and Mahamandapa ). The holy of holies is surrounded by two concentric column-supported passages (prakaras) and crowned by a tower ( shikhara ) , which is only of modest height, but covered with gold.
The two shrines form the oldest part of the temple. They originated during the reign of Kulasekara Pandiyan (1190-1216). His successors had the antechambers and passageways built in the 13th century. Further renovations took place in the 16th and 17th centuries.
In the heart of the Sundareshvara shrine, as in almost all Shiva temples, there is no pictorial representation of the deity, but a linga as a non-pictorial symbol of Shiva. Minakshi, on the other hand, is depicted anthropomorphically . Her portrait is about four feet high and made of green stone. In addition to these two immovable statues in the Holy of Holies, bronze statues of the two deities are kept in the temple, which can be carried out during processions. In addition to the linga and the Minakshi statue, the two shrines house numerous other portraits: Directly opposite each of the two sanctuaries is a figure of Shiva's mount (Vahana) , the Nandi bull. At the gates on the west-east axis are statues of Vinayaka (Ganesha) and Subramanya (Skanda, Murugan), the sons of the divine couple. There are also several other lingas, images of other manifestations of Shiva and the goddess, other deities, the 63 Shivaite saints ( Nayanmars ) venerated in Tamil Nadu , the Sangam poets and the stump of a Kadamba tree.
The Vinayaka statue, which stands at the southern entrance of the Sundareshvara shrine, is said to have been discovered in the 17th century at the bottom of the Mariamman Teppakulam pond and brought to the temple. Particularly popular among the faithful are the reliefs in the second prakara of the Sundareshvara shrine of a woman giving birth, who is coated with oil by pregnant women, and of the monkey god Hanuman , who is always covered with red powder. Until recently it was the custom among temple goers to throw butter balls at two statues depicting Shiva as Urdhva Tandava and the goddess as Bhadrakali in a dance competition.
Porticoes
In the eastern area of the temple there are several pillared halls ( mandapas ) , the most important of which are the Thousand Pillar Hall, the Viravasantaraya Mandapa and the Minakshi Nayaka Mandapa. They all date from the Nayak period between the 16th and early 18th centuries. The roofs of the halls are supported by monolithic pillars, some artfully decorated with sculptures of horses, lions or gods. The mandapas serve as meeting halls, lounges for pilgrims, and market halls where vendors sell devotional items to temple goers.
The largest mandapa is the so-called 1000-pillar hall (Ayirakkal-Mandapa) with a floor area of 76 × 73 m. In fact, the number of columns here is 1029. Today the hall, built in 1572, no longer serves its original function, but houses a temple museum with a collection of sculptures. Between the East Gopuram and the Sundareshvara Shrine is the Viravasantaraya Mandapa, built between 1608 and 1623, which houses numerous stalls. The Minakshi-Nayaka-Mandapa (built 1704–1732) is located between the temple pond and the gate of the eight deities. Outside the temple opposite the East Gopuram is the 100 × 32 m large Pudu Mandapa supported by 124 pillars. Strictly speaking, it does not belong to the temple complex, but was laid out under Tirumalai Nayak (1623–1659) as the entrance hall in front of the temple. Today it is used as a market hall.
Temple pond
Near the South Gopuram and the Minakshi Shrine is the temple pond , which is known as the "pond of the golden lotus" (Pottamarai Kulam) . It is a rectangular pool with steps leading to the water ( ghats ) . In the middle there is a golden column and a gilded sculpture of a lotus flower. The temple pond is used by believers as a place for ritual ablutions. The pond of the golden lotus is surrounded by a colonnade, the walls of which are decorated with wall paintings from the 17th century. These depict scenes from the Tiruvilayadal Puranam , the local legend of the Minakshi Temple.
Another temple pond connected to the Minakshi Temple, the Mariamman -Teppakulam Pond, is located around five kilometers to the east. It was created in 1646 and is the largest temple pond in Tamil Nadu. Every year in January or February the idols of Minakshis and Sundareshvaras are brought to the Mariamman Teppakulam pond in a solemn procession on the occasion of the Teppam festival.
Religious life
God and goddess
The temple of Madurai is a Shivaite temple ( Shivaism is one of the two main currents of Orthodox Hinduism , along with Vishnuism ). In the temple the god Shiva and his consort Minakshi are venerated, who according to myth are supposed to have married here. Minakshi is identified as the local manifestation of the goddess Parvati and is also considered to be Vishnu's sister . What is unusual for a Shiva temple is that in Madurai it is not Shiva but the goddess that is the focus of worship. Shiva is nominally the main god of the temple, but contrary to customary practice, Minakshi is always worshiped before her husband. In processions, her idol is also positioned opposite to the usual order to the right of her husband. This is also reflected in the Tamil saying “Do you have Madurai or Chidambaram at home ?”, In which Madurai stands for female dominance and Chidambaram for male dominance in a marriage.
In addition to his manifestations known from Hindu mythology, the god Shiva has numerous local manifestations limited to a certain temple, each with its own characteristics and its own myth linked to the location. In Madurai Shiva is revered as Sundareshvara ("the beautiful Lord") or Chokkar ("the beautiful"). In addition, the Minakshi Temple, along with the Nataraja Temple of Chidambaram and the temples of Tirunelveli , Tiruvalangadu and Courtallam, is one of the "five dance halls" (Pancha Sabha) in which Shiva in his appearance as Nataraja performs his cosmic dance.
priest
In 2000, over seventy priests were working in the Minakshi Temple. The priests are called Bhattars (originally an honorary title) and also carry this designation as a caste surname. The Bhattars, like the priests of all Shivaite temples in Tamil Nadu, belong to the Adishaivas, a Brahmin sub-caste. The priests live together in a neighborhood north of the temple. According to their own chronicles, the temple priests under Kulasekara Pandiyan (1190-1216) should have come to Madurai from northern India. In addition, temple servants who belong to another, non-priestly Brahmin sub-caste work in the temple. Among other things, they prepare the dishes that are offered to the gods and assist the priests in their rites.
Temple goers
The Minakshi Temple is one of the most visited temples in Tamil Nadu. According to an estimate from the 1980s, an average of around 20,000 people visit the temple every day, and the number can double on special holidays. The temple attendance follows a fixed sequence for believers. The sanctuaries, first the Minakshi and then the Sundareshvara shrine, are walked clockwise from the outer to the inner Prakara (Pradakshina) .
Because the worship of Minakshi is essentially limited to Madurai and the surrounding area, the Minakshi Temple is not a particularly important pilgrimage destination . However, pilgrims from other parts of India on their way to Rameswaram often visit the temple because of its size and old age. For foreign tourists, the Minakshi Temple is one of the most important tourist attractions in Tamil Nadu. Every year 150,000 foreigners visit Madurai (as of 2003). Non-Hindus are not allowed to enter the most sacred areas of the temple (the Minakshi Shrine and the innermost prakara of the Sundareshvara Shrine). Access restrictions for Dalits (casteless), however, no longer exist since 1939.
Animals
A number of animals are kept in Minakshi Temple. As in most of the larger Hindu temples in the temple of Madurai, a temple elephant blesses visitors by touching their trunk in exchange for a donation. In addition, he takes part in processions on certain festivals, festively decorated. There is currently only one temple elephant in Minakshi Temple, Parvathi, a female elephant, who was born in 1997. In addition to the elephant, cows live in the temple of Madurai and - unique for South India - two camels, which are also used in processions. Talking parrots are also kept in the Minakshi Shrine and they are trained to pronounce the name of the goddess (the parrot is considered to be Minakshi's identification mark).
Festivals
Madurai celebrates eleven major temple festivals each year. Every month of the Tamil calendar, with the exception of the monsoon month of Ani (June / July), there is a festival in which the idols Minakshis and Shivas are drawn in magnificent processions on large temple floats ( Rathas ) through the ring roads around the temple. The main festival takes place in the month of Chittirai (April / May). During this twelve-day festival, to which tens of thousands of people flock to Madurai, the divine marriage between Shiva and Minakshi, described in the founding myth of the temple, is celebrated. On the eighth day of the festival, Minakshi is crowned mistress of the city. The next day she is carried through the city on Masi Street to demonstrate her claim to rule over the deities of the eight cardinal points: the goddess subjugates Indra in the east, Agni in the southeast, Yama in the south, Nirriti in the southwest, Varuna in the west, Vayu in the northwest and Kubera in the north. Only Ishana (a form of Shiva) in the northeast defeats Minakshi, who then recognizes him as her future husband. The marriage of the divine couple takes place on the tenth day of the festival and is celebrated by a large procession on the eleventh day.
literature
- Christopher J. Fuller: Servants of the Goddess. The Priests of a South Indian Temple (Cambridge Studies in social anthropology; Vol. 47). CUP, Cambridge 1984, ISBN 0-521-24777-2 .
- Christopher J. Fuller: The Renewal of the Priesthood. Modernity and Traditionalism in a South Indian Temple. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey 2003, ISBN 0-691-11657-1 .
- AV Jeyechandrun: The Madurai temple complex (Publications of Madurai Kamaraj University; Vol. 83). Madurai 1985 (also dissertation, University of Maduraj 1981).
- R. Kasirajan: Minakshi Temple . In: SV Subramanian, G. Rajendran (Ed.): Heritage of the Tamils. Temple Arts (Publications of the International Institute of Tamil Studies; Vol. 110). IITS, Madras 1983. pp. 522-541.
- László Peter Kollar: Symbolism in Hindu architecture as revealed in the Shri Minakshi Sundareswar. Aryan Books, New Delhi 2001, ISBN 81-7305-204-2 (illustrated by Alan Croker).
- R. Venkataraman: The Sculptures on the Gopurams of Madurai Minakshi-Sundaresvara Temple Complex. A survey . In: SV Subramanian, G. Rajendran (Ed.): Heritage of the Tamils. Temple Arts (Publications of the International Institute of Tamil Studies; Vol. 110). IITS, Madras 1983. pp. 374-391.
Individual evidence
- ↑ R. Dessigane, PZ Pattabiramin and J. Filliozat (transl. And ed.): La légende des jeux de Çiva à Madurai: D'après les textes et les peintures , Pondichéry 1960.
- ^ Susan J. Lewandowski: "Changing form and function in the ceremonial and the colonial port city in India: An historical analysis of Madurai and Madras". In: Modern Asian Studies 11 (1977), pp. 183–212, here p. 190.
- ↑ For the history of the construction of the Minakshi temple, see AV Jeyechandrun: The Madurai temple complex , Madurai 1985, pp. 159–188.
- ↑ On the urban architecture of Madurai see Lewandowski 1977.
- ↑ 847 × 792 English feet ; Numbers according to: R. Kasirajan: "Minakshi Temple", in: S. V. Subramanian, G. Rajendran: Heritage of the Tamils. Temple arts, Madras 1985, p. 523. There are different information.
- ^ R. Venkataraman: "The Sculptures on the Gopurams of Madurai Minakshi-Sundaresvara Temple Complex - A Survey", in: SV Subramanian, G. Rajendran (ed.): Heritage of the Tamils - Temple Arts, Madras 1983, p. 383 .
- ↑ Kasirajan 1985, pp. 526-529
- ↑ Kasirajan 1985, p. 527 f.
- ^ CJ Fuller: Servants of the Goddess. The Priests of a South Indian Temple , Cambridge et al. A. 1984, p. 2 f.
- ↑ Kasirajan 1985, p. 524 f.
- ↑ Kasirajan 1985, p. 532. There are different information.
- ^ CJ Fuller: "The divine couple's relationship in a south Indian temple: Mīnākṣī and Sundareśvara at Madurai", in: History of Religions 19 (1980), pp. 321-348.
- ↑ Kasirajan 1985, p. 522.
- ^ CJ Fuller: The Renewal of the Priesthood. Modernity and Traditionalism in a South Indian Temple, Princeton 2003, p. 21.
- ↑ Jeyechandrun 1985, p. 142.
- ↑ Fuller 1984, p. 5.
- ↑ Detailed description of the sequence of the temple visit to the site of the Meenakshi temple ( Engl. ) Archived from the original on August 10, 2007. Accessed January 4, 2009.
- ↑ The Hindu: Tourism, Madurai's mainstay ( Eng. ) January 20, 2003. Archived from the original on November 13, 2009. Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved January 4, 2009.
- ↑ Fuller 1984, p. 43 f.
- ^ Niels Gutschow, Jan Pieper: India. From the monasteries of the Himalayas to the temple cities of South India. Structural form and urban form of a lasting tradition, Cologne 1978, p. 381.
Web links
Coordinates: 9 ° 55 '9.8 " N , 78 ° 7' 10.2" E