Meenakshi

This article is about the goddess. For other uses, see Meenakshi (disambiguation).

Meenakshi
Meenakshi
Other namesAṅgayaṟkaṇṇi, Taḍādakai, Mīnāṭci, Mantriṇi, Mangayakarasi, Maduraidevi
AffiliationParvati, Devi
AbodeMadurai
AnimalsRose-ringed parakeet
Genealogy
Parents
SiblingsAḻagar (Vishnu)
ConsortSundareswarar (Shiva)
DynastyPandya dynasty

Meenakshi also spelled as Minakshi or Mīnāṭci, and also known as Aṅgayaṟkaṇṇi,[2][3] and Taḍādakai,[4] is a Hindu goddess. She is considered as a form of the goddess Parvati, and is the tutelary deity of Madurai.[5] Along with Kamakshi, and Visalakshi, she is considered as one of the three avatars of Adi Shakti:[6] Vishalakshi in the north,[7][2][8] She is represented as the divine consort of Sundaresvarar, a form of Shiva, and the sister of Alagar, a form of Vishnu.[9]

Meenakshi finds mention in Tamil literature as the warrior queen of the ancient Pandya kingdom, and was later deified.[10] She is mainly worshiped in South India, and has a major temple devoted to her in Madurai. Her iconography is usually represented with a raised right hand holding a lotus, on which sits a green parrot, while her left hand hangs by her side.[11] Meenakshi Tirukalyanam, the marriage of Meenakshi and Shiva is celebrated as a major festival.[12] She was also extolled as Shri Vidya by Adi Shankara.[13]

Etymology

Mīnākṣī is a Sanskrit term meaning 'fish-eyed',[14] derived from the words mīna 'fish' and akṣī 'eye'.[15] She was mentioned in early Tamil literature as Taḍādakai meaning 'fish-eyed one' in Tamil.[16] She is also known by the Tamil name Aṅgayaṟkaṇṇi or Aṅgayaṟkaṇṇammai (lit. 'the mother with the beautiful fish eyes').[2][3] The name of might also mean "rule of the fish", derived from the Tamil words meen ('fish') and aatchi ('rule'), denoting the fish signage on the flag used by the Pandyas.[17][18]

Various meanings of this appellation have been suggested, including that she was originally a goddess of the fisher-folk, that her eyes are "large and brilliant" like that of a fish, or that she has "long and slender" eyes shaped like the body of a fish. Another interpretation is that the name is based on the belief that the fish never close their eyes: the goddess similarly never stops watching over her devotees.[19] Yet another interpretation states that the name is based on the ancient belief that the fish feed their young by merely looking at them; the goddess supposedly supports her devotees by merely glancing at them.[20]

Texts

Meenakshi Pancharatnam (five jewels of Meenakshi) is an incantation to Meenakshi composed by Adi Shankara (8th century CE).[13] Though Meenakshi does not directly appear in the Lalita Sahasranama, there is a reference to her in the line Vaktralakṣmī parīvāha calan mīnābha ocanā (She who has the face of Lakshmi and has fish-like eyes in the river of her face).[21] Several great hymns on the goddess were composed in the early modern period by many saints and scholars such as Neelakanta Dikshitar.[22] Tamil literature portrays Meenakshi as the intersection of domesticity and divinity.[23][24]

Legend

According to the 16th century CE Tamil text of Thiruvilaiyadal Puranam, king Malayadhwaja Pandya and his wife Kanchanamalai performed a yajna seeking a son to succeed the king.[25] A daughter appeared out of the fire, who was three years old and had three breasts. When the parents prayed to lord Shiva, a divine voice advised them to bring up the child, and that she will lose the third breast when she meets her future husband. The girl grew up in the palace, and the king crowned her as his successor. When she finally met Shiva, who took the form of Sundareswarar, she took her true form of Meenakshi, an incarnation of Parvati. Meenakshi Tirukalyanam, the marriage of Meenakshi and Shiva was a grand event, with the attendance of various Hindu gods, and other celestial and living beings.[26][27]

According to religious scholar William P. Harman, the story may reflect the matrilineal traditions prevalent in South India during the time and the regional beliefs that "[spiritual] powers rest with the women", gods listen to their spouse, and that the fates of kingdoms rest with the women.[26] According to historian Susan Bayly, the reverence for Meenakshi is a part of the Hindu goddess tradition that integrates with the Hindu society where the "woman is the lynchpin of the system" of social relationships.[28] According to anthropologist Christopher Fuller, the wedding represents a symbolic paradigm for human marriages during the time.[11]

Meenakshi Temple

The Meenakshi Temple in Madurai is dedicated to Meenakshi, who is worshipped as the primary deity in the temple. Also referred to as Meenakshi Amman or Meenakshi-Sundareswarar Temple,[29][30] The shrines of Meenakshi and her consort Sundareswarar are located next to each other in the inner courtyard.[9][31]

Though the temple was mentioned in texts from 6th century CE, it was built extensively during the rule of the Pandyas in the 11th to 12th century CE. After most of the temple was destroyed in the early 14th century by the armies of Delhi Sultanate, the temple was rebuilt after during the Vijayanagara rule in the late 14th to 15th centuries.[32][33] Most of the present masonry was rebuilt after the 14th century CE, and the temple was furtherrenovated and expanded in the 16th and 17th centuries by the Madurai Nayaks.[34][35]

The main shrines are located in the center of the temple complex, surrounded by various monuments inside concentric prakarams (enclosures). The enclosures are fortified with high masonry walls, with the outer walls having four towering gopurams (gateways), one each on either direction, which allow people to enter the complex from all four directions. The complex has numerous sculpted pillared mandapa including the Ayirakkal mandapam (thousand pillar hall). There are various shrines are dedicated to Hindu deities inside the temple complex. The vimanas above the garbhagrihas (sanctums) of Meenakshi and Sundareśvarar are gilded with gold.[33][36][37]

The temple is a major pilgrimage destination within the Shaivism tradition, dedicated to Meenakshi and Shiva.[38] As Vishnu is considered to be Meenakshi's brother, it is mentioned as Mathura of the South in the Vaishnava texts.[39][40] The large temple complex is the most prominent landmark in Madurai and attracts tens of thousands visitors a day.[41] The temple attracts over a million pilgrims and visitors during the annual 10-day Chithirai festival , celebrated with much festivities and a ratha (chariot) procession during the Tamil month of Chittirai.[42]

References

  1. ^ The Great Temple of Madurai: English Version of the Book Koilmanagar. Sri Meenakshisundareswarar Temple Renovation Committee. 1963.
  2. ^ a b c Harman 1992, p. 24.
  3. ^ a b Proceedings of the First International Conference Seminar of Tamil Studies, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, April, 1966. International Association of Tamil Research. 1968. p. 543.
  4. ^ Menon, A. Sreedhara (1978). Cultural Heritage of Kerala: An Introduction. East-West Publications. p. 250.
  5. ^ Howes, Jennifer (2 September 2003). The Courts of Pre-Colonial South India: Material Culture and Kingship. Routledge. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-13578-996-1.
  6. ^ Harshananda, Swami (2012). Hindu Pilgrimage Centres (second ed.). Bangalore: Ramakrishna Math. p. 61. ISBN 978-8-17907-053-6.
  7. ^ Bangala Bhasar Abhidhaan ( Dictioanary of the Bengali Language), Shishu Sahitya Samsad Pvt Ltd., 32A, APC Road, Kolkata – 700009, Volume 2, p.1600. (ed. 1988)
  8. ^ Nelson, Louis P. (2006). American Sanctuary: Understanding Sacred Spaces. Indiana University Press. p. 121. ISBN 978-0-25321-822-3.
  9. ^ a b Rajarajan, R. K. K. (1 January 2005). "Minaksi or Sundaresvara: Who is the first principle?". South Indian History Congress Annual Proceedings. XXV. Madurai: Kamaraj University: 551–553. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019.
  10. ^ Fiedler, Amanda (2006). Where does Meenakshi take her turmeric bath?: a multiply-constructed religious history and deity in Tamilnadu. Madison: University of Wisconsin. p. 1.
  11. ^ a b Fuller, Christopher (May 1980). "South Indian Temple: Mīnākṣī and Sundareśvara at Madurai". History of Religions. 19 (4). University of Chicago Press: 321–348. doi:10.1086/462855. JSTOR 1062576.
  12. ^ Harman 1992, p. 44-47.
  13. ^ a b Journal of Kerala Studies. Vol. 36. University of Kerala. 2009. p. 97.
  14. ^ William P. Harman (1992). The Sacred Marriage of a Hindu Goddess. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 24. ISBN 978-81-208-0810-2. Archived from the original on 12 October 2020. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  15. ^ Manly Palmer Hall, ed. (1949). Horizon, Volume 9, Issue 3. Philosophical Research Society. p. 33.
  16. ^ Fisher, Michael H. (18 October 2018). An Environmental History of India: From Earliest Times to the Twenty-First Century. Cambridge University Press. p. 74. ISBN 978-1-10711-162-2.
  17. ^ Journal of Indian History. Department of History, University of Kerala. 2002. p. 96.
  18. ^ A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Tamil Language, Vol. VII, PART - II, p. 68, மீனாட்சி, Mīṉāṭci, பெ. (n.) மதுரையை உறைவிடமாகக் கொண்ட தெய்வம்; Umā, the tutelary Goddess of Madurai. [மீன் + ஆட்சி. மீனைக் கொடியில் சின்னமாகக் கொண்டவள்.] Translation: [ Meen + Aatchi. Her who put the fish as symbol for the flag.] (மீன் - Mīṉ which means "fish", ஆட்சி- āṭci which means "rule")
  19. ^ William Norman Brown (1978). "The Name of the Goddess Mīnākṣī "Fish-Eye"". India and Indology: Selected Articles. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 84–86. OCLC 871468571. Archived from the original on 12 October 2020. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  20. ^ Klaus K. Klostermaier (2014). A Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Oneworld. p. 153. ISBN 978-1-78074-672-2. Archived from the original on 12 October 2020. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  21. ^ Rupenaguntla, Satya Narayana Sarma (29 May 2018). Hidden meanings of Lalita Sahasranama. Panchawati Spiritual Foundation. p. 21.
  22. ^ Atyar, N Natesa. Preface to Ananda Sagara Stavam.
  23. ^ Chawla, Janet, ed. (2006). Birth and birthgivers : the power behind the shame. New Delhi: Shakti Books. ISBN 8-12410-938-9. OCLC 181090767.
  24. ^ Richman, Paula (1997). Extraordinary Child: Poems from a South Asian devotional genre. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
  25. ^ "The Sacred Sports of Siva - Introduction". Shaivam. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
  26. ^ a b Harman 1992, p. 44–47.
  27. ^ Brockman 2011, p. 326–327.
  28. ^ Susan Bayly (1989). Saints, Goddesses and Kings: Muslims and Christians in South Indian Society, 1700-1900. Cambridge University Press. pp. 29–30. ISBN 978-0-521-89103-5. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  29. ^ "Madurai". Britannica. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  30. ^ Ramaswamy 2007, p. 9–10, 103, 210, 363–364.
  31. ^ Bharne, Vinayak; Krusche, Krupali (18 September 2014). Rediscovering the Hindu Temple: The Sacred Architecture and Urbanism of India. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 978-1-44386-734-4. Archived from the original on 12 October 2020. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  32. ^ Tara Boland-Crewe; David Lea (2003). The Territories and States of India. Routledge. p. 401. ISBN 1-135-35624-6.
  33. ^ a b Christopher Fuller (2003). "Madurai". In George Michell (ed.). Temple Towns of Tamil Nadu. Marg. pp. 94–113. ISBN 978-81-85026-213.
  34. ^ King 2005, p. 72-74.
  35. ^ D. Uma 2015, p. 39-40.
  36. ^ Brian A. Hatcher (2015). Hinduism in the Modern World. Routledge. pp. 20–21. ISBN 978-1-135-04631-6.
  37. ^ D. Uma 2015, pp. 34–47.
  38. ^ Subramanian 2003, p. 96.
  39. ^ Edwin Francis Bryant (2007). Krishna: A Sourcebook. Oxford University Press. pp. 546 with note 45. ISBN 978-0-19-803400-1.
  40. ^ T. Padmaja (2002). Temples of Kr̥ṣṇa in South India: History, Art, and Traditions in Tamilnāḍu. Abhinav Publications. pp. 97–99. ISBN 978-8-17017-398-4.
  41. ^ Gopal 1990, p. 181.
  42. ^ Diana L. Eck (2013). India: A Sacred Geography. Random House. pp. 277–279. ISBN 978-0-385-53192-4.

Bibliography

  • Media related to Mīnākṣī at Wikimedia Commons
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