Ménäkñé-Sundareçwara Temple,
Madurai
Period & Builder
Chronological details of the Räjagopurams
Deities
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Period & Builder
The
Ménäkñé-Sundareçwara Temple built by
Kulasekhara Pandyan of the ancient Pandyan dynasty is the biggest Temple in
Tamil Nadu, and is a superb example of the Dravida School of
temple-architecture. The origin of the Temple goes back to legendary times.
Only a shrine of Lord Shiva was existing in 7th century. The shrine
of Çré Ménäkñé was built during the
reign of Chadayavarman Sundara Pandyan in 12th century. The entire
credit for making the Temple as splendid as it is today goes to the Nayakas who
ruled Madurai from 16th to 18th century, considered as
the golden period of Madurai. The largest expansion was during the reign of
Tirumalä Näyak (1623-59 CE). He was the best of the Näyakas of Madurai.
Madurai’s
history can be divided into roughly four periods, beginning over 2,000 years
ago, when it was the capital of the Pandyan kings. In the 4th
century BCE, the city was known to the Greeks via Meghasthenes, their
ambassador to the court of Chandragupta Maurya. In the 10th century
CE, Madurai was taken by the Chola Emperors. It remained in their hands until
the Pandyas briefly regained their independence, in the 12th
century, only to lose it again in the 14th century to Muslim
invaders under Malik Kafur, a general in the service of the Delhi Sultanate. Malik
Kafur established his own dynasty here, which in turn, was overthrown by the
Hindu Vijayanagar Kings of Hampi. After the fall of Vijayanagar in 1565 CE, the
Nayakas ruled Madurai for around 200 years (considered the golden age of
Madurai) until 1781 CE. Designed in 1560 CE by Viswanath Nayaka, the present
temple was substantially built during the reign of Tirumalä Näyaka (1623-1655
CE), and Madurai became the cultural centre of the Tamil people, playing an
important role in the development of the Tamil language.
Subsequently,
Madurai passed into the hands of the British East India Company, which took
over the revenues of the area, after the wars of the Carnatic in 1781 CE.
The
temple town of Madurai is one of the most ancient heritage sites of India,
truly reflective of the cultural ethos of India. Madurai is closely associated
with the literary wealth of Classical and modern Tamil. The crowning glory of
this historic city is the sprawling Ménäkñé-Sundareçwara Temple. Four of the six major streams of the indigenous system of
beliefs as codified by Ädi Çaìkaräcärya (Çaivism, Çaktism, Vaiñëvism and
worship of Skanda) meet this historic city during festive occasions, when the
entire region is transformed into a vast space of celebration.
There
are four entrances to the temple, which occupies six hectares. It has 12
towers, ranging in height from 45 to 50 metres, and 4 outer-rim nine-tiered gopurams, the tallest of which is the Southern
Rajagopuram. The Hall of 1,000 columns actually has 985.
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Chronological details of the Räjagopurams
The
Eastern Rajagopuram (153 feet), built
by Maravarman Sundara Pandyan (1216-1238 CE) is the oldest.
The
Western Rajagopuram was built by
Parakrama Pandyan in 14th century.
The
Southern Rajagopuram (160 feet) was
constructed by Sevvanti Murty Chettiar in 1559 CE. It is 9-storeyed and has
1511 sculptures.
The
‘Thousand-pillared Hall’ (985 actually) was constructed during the reign of
Viswanath Nayak in 1569 CE.
The
‘Golden Lotus Tank’ (length 240 feet x width 165 feet) was built in 1636 CE.
Famous Gopurams*
|
Place
|
Tier
|
Height
|
Builder
|
|
1
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Sri
Ranganathaswamy Temple
|
Trichy
|
13-tiered
|
240
feet
|
1980
|
2
|
Arunachaleswara
Temple
|
Tiruvannamalai
|
217
feet
|
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3
|
Ekambareswara
Temple
|
Kanchipuram
|
194
feet
|
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4
|
Sri
Andal Temple
|
Srivilliputhur
|
11-tier
|
192
feet
|
|
5
|
Southern Rajagopuram of Minakshi
|
Madurai
|
9-tier
-1511 sculptures
|
160
feet
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Sevvanti Murty Chettiar in 1559 CE
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6
|
Eastern Rajagopuram of Minakshi
|
Madurai
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153 feet
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Maravarman
Sundara Pandyan
|
|
7
|
Sarangapani
Temple
|
Kumbakonam
|
12-tier
|
146
feet
|
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8
|
Suchindram
|
Kanyakumari
|
134
feet
|
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9
|
Rameswaram
|
Rameswaram
|
126
feet
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*Why do I give this Table every time. So that each write-up is
independent, and one can visualise immediately.
Deities
The
deity here is Çré Ménäkñé (meaning fish-eyed), an aspect of Goddess Parvati and
her consort Lord Sundareçwara, an aspect of Lord Çiva. They are enshrined in
this twin Temple. Çré Ménäkñé stands with a parrot on her right hand (not to be
mistaken with a similar form of Aëòal with a parrot on her left hand) radiating
feminine grace.
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Ménäkñé is conceived here as Universal Mother in her loving
mood. Çré Sundareçwara’s shrine is in the other part of the complex.
Temple architecture/style/specialty
The
Temple covers an area of seventeen acres. It has four Rajagopurams – gateways, in each
of the four directions – East, West, North and South. The Eastern Rajagopuram
built by Maravarman Sundara Pandyan (1216-1238 CE) is the oldest and rises to
153 feet. The Western Rajagopuram was
built by Parakrama Pandyan in 14th century. Among the eleven gopurams in the temple, the largest and
the best of them is the Southern Rajagopuram rising to a height of 160 feet
with a parabolic curves at the sides. It was constructed by Sevvanti Chettiar
in 16th century. The lofty base and the concave curves of the whole
structure tend to give it a soaring quality greater than what its height
suggests. The surface is pulsating mass of masonry, covered all over with
plastic figures of deities and celestial characters freely drawn from
inexhaustible treasure house of Hindu pantheon. The North Rajagopuram otherwise
known as mottai gopuram is modest
without any striking artistic work.
There
are also smaller gopurams that add to
the beauty of the temple-complex. The gopurams
include four nine-tiered, four seven-tiered, five five-tiered, two two-tiered
and two gold-covered-tiers, a total of 17 gopurams.
There
are five vimanas over the sanctum of the Lord, and three over the sanctum of the Çré Ménäkñé.
Outside
the sanctum are some great
sculptures, including one that depicts Çré Ménäkñé’s wedding with Çiva, with
Lord Viñëu (considered her brother) giving away the bride.
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The
Ménäkñé Nayakar Maëòapam is famous
for its 110 pillars carrying the figures Yali,
a peculiar animal with a lion’s body and an elephant’s head.
The
‘Thousand-Pillar Maëòapam’ actually contains 985 pillars, including few musical
pillars, each one producing a different musical note when struck. Viewed from
any angle, these pillars appear to be in a straight line (Like Diwan-e-am in
Red Fort). The ‘Thousand-Pillared Hall’ is sort of a museum. In the Velliambalam, Lord Nataraja is seen in
the dancing posture with his right foot raised. Usually, Nataraja is depicted
as dancing with his left foot raised. The dance is known as Jïänasundara Täëòavam.
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The
‘Golden Lotus Tank’ within the Temple-complex has its own story. It is said
that the ancient Tamil Academy judged the worth of any work of literature
presented before it, by throwing it into ‘The Lotus Tank’ here. Only those that
did not sink were considered worthy of attention.
History
Although
razed to ground, the Madurai Ménäkñé-Sundareçwara Temple was rebuilt with amazing resilience by the Nayaka rulers who
ruled Madurai from 16th to 18th century of Madurai.
Festivals
Madurai
is a city of festivals. The most important festival is the Ménäkñé-Sundareçwara wedding on Chitra-Purnima day
(April-May).
Of
all the temples documented so far, Madurai was the second most difficult
(first being Mahabalipuram. The Temple-Complex is so vast, it requires
repeated visits to comprehend the basic structure and lay out. My problem was
to distinguish the four Räjagopurams. It took two visits (2008 and 2009) and
four years to document above (basics). I write only what I have understood
and digested.
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Work in progress
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