Sree meenakshi Thiru kalyanam (marriage ceremony) !!

[Guest guest]

our beloved devi bhakta has been asking in this forum and in 'ambaa'

regarding this great event...

 

well, folks, today (yesterday in india) ttheis most auspicious event -

the marriage ceremony of sree meenakshi amman and lord sundereshwera

is conducted with pomp and pagentry and in all its magnificence and

splendor in the holy city of maurai in the famous madurai meenakshi

temple. in fact, this event spreads over 10 days of festivities and

all bhaktas take part in the 10 day celebrations !

 

Madurai Meenakshi Amman

 

the king of madurai malayadwaja Pandya. was childless for long. To

win the favour of the gods in order to ensure an heir to the throne,

he performed an elaborate yagna (sacrificial rites before a scared

fire).

 

To the wonder of all, a three-year-old girl emerged from the fire,

ran to Queen Kanchanamala and sat on her lap. The king and queen were

happy, although the girl's abnormality – she had three breasts - s –

puzzled them. A divine voice assured the king that deformity would

disappear as soon as she met her consort.

 

The girl grew into a beautiful princess, heroic on the battlefield as

well. Setting out on a digvijayam (career on conquest) she overcame

all adversaries and, after a sequence of victories, proceeded towards

Himalayas. In Kailash, when she met Lord Shiva on the battlefield,

her third breast disappeared.

 

The princess was Parvathi, Shiva's heavenly consort. Kanachanamala,

as Vidyavathi in a previous birth, had received for her penance a

boon from the goddess whereby Parvathi would one day be brought up as

her daughter. The goddess thus fulfilled Vidyavathi's wish.

 

After their marriage, Shiva and Parvathi ruled over Madurai for a

while and later settled in the Madurai temple as Meenakshi and

Sundareswarar.

**********************************************************************

every year, around this time - the marriage ceremony is solemized in

the meenakshi temple to the great delight of the devotees.

 

april 24th is this holy day of sree meenakshi thiru kalyanam.

 

Sri Meenakshi Kalyanam symbolises the Celestial Marriage of Sri Siva

as Sri Sundareswarã and Sri Sakthi as Sri Meenakshi. Sri Vishnu as

the brother of Sakthi comes to "give away the bride" and Sri Brahmã

performs the Smãrtha form of Vedic Marriage rituals. This is a

representation of the unity of the four popular forms of Hindu faith,

Saivam, Vaishnavam, Sãktham and the Vedic Smãrtha Sampradhãya. other.

 

You can expect a festival almost every day at the Meenakshi temple in

Madurai. The festival that attracts the devotees most is the

Meenakshi Kalyanam popularly known as the Chitra festival. The

festival is a ten-day celebration in relation to the wedding of

Goddess Meenakshi, described as fish-eyed to Sundereshwara (an

incarnation of Lord Shiva).

 

The deities (utsava murthis- smaller deities representing the

original archa-vigrahas) are taken out in a resplendent chariot to

the accompaniment of traditional devotional music after the ritual

marriage ceremony is performed.

 

muthasamy dikshitir, a famous copmoser of karnatic music, composed

lot of hymns on sree meenkashi, his ishtadevata (devi) !!! in fact,

it it said he attained samadhi while devotees were singing a famous

song 'meenakshi me mudam dehi' in the temple premises!!!

 

here is that song...

 

O Divine Mother,

storms of desire rages in my mind lashing out the waves of agony that

torment this soul. Like a stone sinking in a pond, the weight of ego

is sinking me down in this bottomless pit of saMsaara.

 

Are you not the one who saved gajendra in the form of vaasudeva

(atura mukha kari-rajunu brOchina vaasudevudE nevugadaa?) ? Are you

not the one whose eyes drip with compassion (kaTakShasyanti

karuNaa)? You bear great titles like "Ocean of compassion"

(karuNaamR^ita saagara) and treasure house of compassion

(kaaruNyavaaram nidhim), yet you do not give a drop of that to me.

Does not your heart bleed looking at this child's agony.

 

O miinaakShii, vishva jananii. give me hand and lift me up, else I

will sink away in this misery.

 

In shakthi worship, the Goddess here is identified as Rajamaathangi

or mantrini, the minister of Lalithathripura sundari. Worship of this

form confers on the devotee skill in music. Rajamaathangi is adept in

playing the vallaki and hence she is the creator of the ten kinds of

gamakas of the vina," Vinaavaadhana dhashagamaka kriye."

 

According to legends, she came to the earth as the daughter of the

Pandya king Malayadhwaja. Dikshithar hails her as "Malayadhwaja

Paandyaraaja thanaye." The goddess here is greenish in colour. That

is "marakathachaaaye. This kshetra is called kadamba vana - forest of

the kadamba trees. kadhamba is the sthala vrksha of Madurai. He says

of this as "kadhambavanvaasini" and the city as "madhuraapuri

nilaye." The Goddess dwells here with her consort

Sundaresha, "Mahaadeva Sundareshapriye." Her brother, Vishnu comes

across Vaigai from the nearby temple of Azhagarkoil. He is referred

to in "madhumuraripu sodhari," the sister of the enemy of the demons

Madhu and Mura ie Vishnu." The sthala bakshi is the parrot and those

who visit the Minaakshi temple can see the parrots inside a screened

enclosure, maintained by the temple.

 

Another unique feature of Minaakshi temple is the separate main

entrances to Minaakshi and Sundareshvar.This is to facilitate Ambaa

Bhaktas who are ViraVaishnavas (those who strongly believe in the

superiority of Mahavishnu over Maheshwar). Viravaishnavas use the

separated temple entrance to worship Ambaa, the brother of Vishnu to

get Her blessings! Interestingly the Chithra Festival (Festival

celebrated during the month of Chithra - between the middle of April

and the middle of May) is well attended by Shiva and Vishnu

worshipers (Shivas and Vaishnavas). At the main entrance (entrance to

Minakshi shrine), we can witness the divine marriage between Ambaa

and Shiva with the presence of Vishnu through the sculpture portrait

of the marriage function!

 

 

om sree raja - matangayaii namaha!!!

 

gathered from a few web sources including -ambaa.com/

 

pl enjoy the bliss of eternal union of sree meenakshi with lord

sundareshwara- the jiva atman with the pamatman! the individual soul

with the the divine soul!!!

 

 

ps- db, this is all i cpuld come up with!!! in our temple here in

maryland, they are celebrating this great event in the morning...

unfortunatelly, i cannot go because of worlk obligations -- but it is

celebrated just like a real wedding ---

 

 

love .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fher South is the temple city of Madurai. The Goddess here is

Minaakshi.One of the most popular krithis on Madurai is "Minaakshi me

mudham-(Gamakakriya). In shakthi worship, the Goddess here is

identified as Rajamaathangi or mantrini, the minister of

Lalithathripura sundari. Worship of this form confers on the devotee

skill in music. Rajamaathangi is adept in playing the vallaki and

hence she is the creator of the ten kinds of gamakas of the vina,"

Vinaavaadhana dhashagamaka kriye." According to legends, she came to

the earth as the daughter of the Pandya king Malayadhwaja. Dikshithar

hails her as "Malayadhwaja Paandyaraaja thanaye." The goddess here is

greenish in colour. That is "marakathachaaaye. This kshetra is called

kadamba vana - forest of the kadamba trees. kadhamba is the sthala

vrksha of Madurai. He says of this as "kadhambavanvaasini" and the

city as "madhuraapuri nilaye." The Goddess dwells here with her

consort Sundaresha, "Mahaadeva Sundareshapriye." Her brother, Vishnu

comes across Vaigai from the nearby temple of Azhagarkoil. He is

referred to in "madhumuraripu sodhari," the sister of the enemy of

the demons Madhu and Mura ie Vishnu." The sthala bakshi is the parrot

and those who visit the Minaakshi temple can see the parrots inside a

screened enclosure, maintained by the temple.

 

Another unique feature of Minaakshi temple is the separate main

entrances to Minaakshi and Sundareshvar.This is to facilitate Ambaa

Bhaktas who are ViraVaishnavas (those who strongly believe in the

superiority of Mahavishnu over Maheshwar). Viravaishnavas use the

separated temple entrance to worship Ambaa, the brother of Vishnu to

get Her blessings! Interestingly the Chithra Festival (Festival

celebrated during the month of Chithra - between the middle of April

and the middle of May) is well attended by Shiva and Vishnu

worshipers (Shivas and Vaishnavas). At the main entrance (entrance to

Minakshi shrine), we can witness the divine marriage between Ambaa

and Shiva with the presence of Vishnu through the sculpture portrait

of the marriage function!

 

Kanchi

 

Dikshithar calls Kanchi as "Nagareshu Kanchi" - the best among

cities. This ancient city is a great spiritual centre. It is the

kaamakoti pita and it is said that Adi Shankara installed the

yogalinga here. The krithi "Kaamaakshi (Sumadhyuthi) welcomes us

here. The name kaamakoti pita is mentioned here, as "Kaamakotipita

vaasini." The signficance here is that there is no garbhagriha

 

 

 

 

 

Sri Meenakshi Kalyanam symbolises the Celestial Marriage of Sri Siva

as Sri Sundareswarã and Sri Sakthi as Sri Meenakshi. Sri Vishnu as

the brother of Sakthi comes to "give away the bride" and Sri Brahmã

performs the Smãrtha form of Vedic Marriage rituals. This is a

representation of the unity of the four popular forms of Hindu faith,

Saivam, Vaishnavam, Sãktham and the Vedic Smãrtha Sampradhãya. The

same principle is seen in all stories in Hindu Purãnas to show that

the several forms of practice of Hindu faith, though externally look

different from each other in their philosophy, are united together

and related to each other.

 

You can expect a festival almost every day at the Meenakshi temple in

Madurai. The festival that attracts the devotees most is the

Meenakshi Kalyanam popularly known as the Chitra festival. The

festival is a ten-day celebration in relation to the wedding of

Goddess Meenakshi, described as fish-eyed to Sundereshwara (an

incarnation of Lord Shiva).

 

 

 

The deities are taken out in a resplendent chariot to the

accompaniment of traditional devotional music after the ritual

marriage ceremony is performed. As the legend goes, Meenakshi was the

daughter of a Pandyan king. She is believed to have been born with

three breasts, one of which would disappear when she would come

across her groom-to-be.

 

She then came across the incarnation of Lord Shiva, in the form of

Sundereswara. The Meenakshi temple is one of the most spectacular

excessive displays of architecture on earth. The temple has nine

towering gopurams and thousands of pillars, covered from top to

bottom with some 30 million colorful carvings and gypsum images of

gods, demons and animals.

 

mInAkSi mE mudam dEhi

mEchakA.nki rAja mAta.ngim

Anu-Pallavi

mAna mAt.r mEyE mAyE

marakata cchAyE 'siva jyAyE

mIna lochani pA'sa mochani

mAnini kadamba vana vAsini

Charanam

madhurApuri nilayE maNi valayE

malayaddhwaja pANdya rAja tanayE

vidhu viDambana vadanE vijayE

vINA gAna da'sa gamaka kriyE

madhu mada mOditha h.rdayE sadayE

mahAdEva sundarE'sa priyE

madhu mura ripu sOdari 'sAtOdari

vidhi guruguha va'sa.nkari 'sa.nkari