Shri Shirdi Sai speaks-27th Sept/Aerial View of Meenakshi Temple

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Aerial View of Meenakshi temple in Madurai.The ancient city of Madurai, more

than 2,500 years old, was built by the Pandyan king, Kulashekarar, in the 6th

century B.C. But the reign of the Nayaks marks the golden period of Madurai when

art, architecture and learning flourished expansively. The most beautiful

buildings in the city including its most famous landmark, the Meenakshi temple,

were built during the Nayak rule.

Located in the heart of the city of Madurai, the Meenakshi-Sundareshwarar

temple is dedicated to goddess Meenakshi, the consort of lord Shiva. It has long

been the focus of both Indian and international tourist attraction as well as

one of the most important places of Hindu pilgrimage

It is said that the people of the city wake up, not by the call of nature but

by the chant of hymns at the temple.

All the major festivals of Tamil Nadu are celebrated here with gaiety, most

important being the Chitrai festival that is held in April/May, when the

celestial marriage of Meenakshi and Sundareshwarar is celebrated, drawing a huge

crowd of people from all over the state.

 

The sculpted pillars are adorned with the exquisite murals that celebrate the

ethereal beauty of princess Meenakshi and the scenes of her wedding with Lord

Shiva. At the Sundareswarar temple across the courtyard, Lord Shiva is

represented as a lingam. The pillars depict scenes from the wedding of Meenakshi

and Sundareswarar. There are 985 richly carved pillars here and each one

surpasses the other in beauty.

 

Meenakshi was the daughter of King Malayadwaja Pandya and Queen Kanchanamala,

who was born after performing several yagnas (sacrificial rites). The three-year

old girl emerged out of the fire during the final yagna. The princess Meenakshi,

grew to be a beautiful young woman of great valour who conquered several lands

and challenged the mightiest kings.

 

It was then revealed that the princess was actually an incarnation of Parvati

who came to earth to honour a promise given to Kanchanamala in her previous

life. Thus Shiva came to Madurai as Sundareshwarar to marry Meenakshi and the

two ruled over the kingdom for many years before they left for their heavenly

abode from the spot where the temple now stands.

 

The temple has four Rajagopurams or majestic towers, there are five towers on

top of the sanctum sanctorum of the Lord, three on top of the sanctum sanctorum

of the Goddess and two golden towers or gopurams, all which have been

exquisitely designed and sculptured. All fourteen towers have been segregated

based on the stages they are...

The eight forms of Goddess Sakthi the consort of Lord Shiva, Kaumari, Rowthiri,

Vaishnavi, Mahalakshmi, Yangnarubini, Shyamala, Maheswari and Manonmani have

been sculptured into the pillars of the mandapam individually.

 

There are statues of Vallaba Vinayagar and Murugan at the entrance of this

mandapam.

 

There are sculptures depicting Goddess Meenakshi and Lord Shiva who took the

form of a hunter and huntress to rid a Brahmin of his sin.

The statues of Munivar, Mohini and Kadanthai Mudaliar are seen at the southern

side of the mandapam

The saying that one needs thousand eyes to view the hall of thousand pillars is

not without truth.

At foot of the pillars, along the centre of the mandapam are carved sculptures

of Pitchadanar, Dharman, Beeman, Rathi and Veerpathirar while at the top are

carvings of Agni, Veerapathirar, Manmadan, Purushamirukam, Arjunan and Mohini.

Among these sculptures is one of Rathi seated on a Swan, which are quintessence

of the art of sculpture with musical notes.

 

This mandapam which is seen next to the Ashta Sakthi mandapam was constructed

by Meenakshi Naicker belonging to the Naicker clan in the year 1708. This

mandapam is 160 feet in length and has pillars that have been arranged in six

rows.

 

There are about 44 stone inscriptions on the walls of the corridors of the

Sundareswarar shrine and that of Meenakshi Amma shrine

My heartfelt pranams to Sri Sundareswarar .May all the Gods and Goddesses bless

us with the bliss of devotion and faith in our hearts ..

A beautiful idol of Sri Meenakshi .May we find eternal bliss in this virtual

darshan of the Meenakshi temple..

Message from the teachings of Sai baba for27th September

Ably Enact Your Role in the Drama of Life

This world is a stage and every person is an actor. God is the play-wright who

plans and decides what role one should play in the drama of life and thereby

directs the play. Our duty is to perform the roles ordained by God in true

spirit. Only then, the play will be exciting and successful. Having played our

role ably, our lives will become fruitful. The whole of the Universe is but the

creation of God Supreme. If we keenly observe what God does, we can execute the

entrusted task as desired by Him. God, the Omniscient, always awaits to

accommodate everyone in the Kingdom of His heart.Some instances would not favour

us to perfectly execute a task and thereby lead to confusion. We will not be in

a position to advance further. We feel pained when we fail to accomplish the

task put forth by our beloved God. At this juncture, we should recollect the

words of Baba, " If you need My help or guidance, I am ready to give it at once

and at all times " . This

assurance of the All-Merciful Baba gives us enough courage. He transforms us

into highly competent ones even though we do not have any competence. Not only

does Baba decide our role but He equips us with the required talent in playing

our role ably in His Divine Drama. Realizing our responsibility, let us follow

in the foot-steps of Baba.

 

 

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