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Meenakshi
Meenakshi (, ; also spelled as Minakshi; also known as , and ) is a Hindu goddess. She is the tutelary deity of Madurai and is considered a form of the goddess Parvati. She is the divine consort of Sundareśvarar, a form of Shiva and the sister of Aḻagar, a form of Vishnu. She finds mention in literature as the queen of the ancient Madurai-based Pandya kingdom, and is later deified. The goddess is also extolled by Adi Shankara as Shri Vidya. She is mainly worshipped in India where she has a major temple devoted to her known as the Meenakshi Temple in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. Meenakshi, Kamakshi, and Visalakshi are considered the three Shakti forms of the goddess Parvati. Etymology is a Sanskrit term meaning 'fish-eyed', derived from the words 'fish' and 'eye'. She was also known by the Tamil name 'fish-eyed one', mentioned in early historical account as a fierce, unmarried goddess as Meenakshi. She is also known by the Tamil name or (). According to another theory, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meenakshi Temple
Arulmigu Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple, also known as Arulmigu Meenakshi Amman Thirukkovil, is a historic Hindu temple located on the southern bank of the Vaigai River in the temple city of Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is dedicated to the goddess Meenakshi, a form of Parvati, her consort ''Sundareśvarar'', a form of Shiva and her brother ''Aḻagar'', a form of Vishnu. The temple is theologically significant as it represents a confluence of the Shaivism, Shaktism and Vaishnavism denominations of Hinduism. The temple is at the centre of the ancient temple city of Madurai mentioned in the Tamil Sangam literature, with the goddess temple mentioned in 6th-century CE texts. This temple is one of the Paadal Petra Sthalams, which are 275 temples of Shiva that are revered in the verses of Tamil Saiva Nayanars of the 6th-9th century CE. The west tower (''gopuram'') of the temple is the model on which the Tamil Nadu State Emblem is based. Madurai Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meenakshi Pancharatnam
Meenakshi (, ; also spelled as Minakshi; also known as , and ) is a Hindu goddess. She is the tutelary deity of Madurai and is considered a form of the goddess Parvati. She is the divine consort of Sundareśvarar, a form of Shiva and the sister of Aḻagar, a form of Vishnu. She finds mention in literature as the queen of the ancient Madurai-based Pandya kingdom, and is later deified. The goddess is also extolled by Adi Shankara as Shri Vidya. She is mainly worshipped in India where she has a major temple devoted to her known as the Meenakshi Temple in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. Meenakshi, Kamakshi, and Visalakshi are considered the three Shakti forms of the goddess Parvati. Etymology is a Sanskrit term meaning 'fish-eyed', derived from the words 'fish' and 'eye'. She was also known by the Tamil name 'fish-eyed one', mentioned in early historical account as a fierce, unmarried goddess as Meenakshi. She is also known by the Tamil name or (). According to another theory, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Madurai
Madurai ( , , ), formerly known as Madura, is a major city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District, which is governed by the Madurai Municipal Corporation established on 1 November 1866. As of the 2011 Census of India, 2011 census, it is the List of cities in India by population, third largest metropolis in Tamil Nadu after Chennai and Coimbatore in terms of population and 27th largest List of million-plus urban agglomerations in India, urban agglomeration in India. Located on the banks of River Vaigai, Madurai has been a major settlement for two millennia and has a documented history of more than 2500 years. It is often referred to as "Thoongatha Nagaram", meaning "the city that never sleeps". Madurai is closely associated with the Tamil language. The third Tamil Sangam, a major congregation of Tamil scholars, is said to have been held in the ci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pandya Dynasty
The Pandya dynasty (), also referred to as the Pandyas of Madurai, was an ancient Tamil dynasty of South India, and among the four great kingdoms of Tamilakam, the other three being the Pallavas, the Cholas and the Cheras. Existing since at least the 4th to 3rd centuries BCE, the dynasty passed through two periods of imperial dominance, the 6th to 10th centuries CE, and under the 'Later Pandyas' (13th to 14th centuries CE). Under Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan I and Maravarman Kulasekara Pandyan I, the Pandyas ruled extensive territories including regions of present-day South India and northern Sri Lanka through vassal states subject to Madurai. The Pandya dynasty is the longest ruling dynasty in the world. The rulers of the three Tamil dynasties were referred to as the " three crowned rulers (the mu-ventar) of the Tamil Region" in the southern part of India. The origin and the timeline of the Pandya dynasty are difficult to establish. The early Pandya chieftains ruled ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kanchanamalai
Kanchanamalai (Tamil:காஞ்சனமலை) was legendary queen consort of Madurai and Korkai and also empress of the Pandya dynasty. She ruled Madurai alongside her husband, King Malayadhvaja Pandya. She was also the mother of Meenakshi. Kanchanamalai is believed to be the reincarnation of Vidyavati (a princess of Gandharva kingdom). Life Nothing is mentioned or known about Kanchanamalai outside of this legend written during the Meenakshi era. Kanchanamalai was born to king Surashena of the Solar dynasty. She was a pious devotee of the goddess Parvati. When Kanchanamalai was living her old birth as Vidyavati, she requested that Parvati be born as her daughter in her next birth. While performing a yajna with her husband, she was granted a child called Meenakshi who was a reincarnation of goddess Parvati. Widowhood After the death of her husband king Malayadhvaja Pandya, she lost her role as queen consort and later assumed the role as ''Raja Mata'' (widow of former k ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thiruvilaiyadal Puranam
The ''Thiruvilaiyadal Puranam'' (; ) is a collection of sixty-four 16th to 17th-century Shaivite devotional epic stories by the sage Paranjothi Munivar. They describe the actions of Shiva on earth in a number of disguises to test and help his devotees. Contents There are sixty-four stories in the ''Thiruvilaiyadal Puranam''. It is divided into three cantos, namely Maduraikandam, Koodarkandam and Thirualavaikandam. Thiruvilaiyadal Puranam is viewed to be one of the 18 thalapuranas. It is also revered as one of the Mahapuranas (Periya Puranam – the right eye of Shiva, Thiruvilaiyadal Puranam – the left eye, and Kanda Purana – the third eye). It was authored by Saint Paranjothi, estimated 300 years ago. It narrates the 64 Tiruvilayadals (Lilas in Sanskrit), loosely translated as the ''"playful miracles of god (Shiva) himself"''. It describes the legends and prevalent in the Pandyan Kingdom in South India and covers a period of more than 500 years during the reign of fifty ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parvati
Parvati (, , IPA: /Sanskrit phonology, pɑɾʋət̪iː/), also known as Uma (, , IPA: Sanskrit phonology, /ʊmɑː/) and Gauri (, , IPA: /Sanskrit phonology, gə͡ʊɾiː/), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the Devi, goddess of power, energy, nourishment, harmony, love, beauty, devotion, and motherhood. Along with Lakshmi and Saraswati, Sarasvati, she forms the trinity, known as the Tridevi. From her first appearance as a goddess during the Itihasa-Purana, epic period (400 BCE – 400 CE), Parvati is primarily depicted as the consort of the god Shiva. According to various Puranas, Parvati is the reincarnation of Sati (Hindu goddess), Sati, Shiva's first wife, who relinquished her body to sever familial ties with her father, Daksha, after he had insulted Shiva. Parvati is often equated with the other goddesses such as Sati, Uma, Kali and Durga and due to this close connection, they are often treated as one and the same, with their stories frequently ove ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Madurai District
Madurai District is one of the 38 districts of the state of Tamil Nadu in southeastern India., United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency The city of Madurai serves as the district headquarters. It houses the famous Sri Meenakshi Sundareshwarar temple and is situated on the banks of the river Vaigai. Thiruparankundram is one of the major tourist place in the district. As of 2011, the district had a population of 3,038,252 with a sex-ratio of 990 females for every 1,000 males. Aside from the city of Madurai, the larger towns are Melur, Vadipatti, Thirumangalam, Thirupparankundram, Peraiyur, and Usilampatti. History The main kingdoms which ruled Madurai are the Pandyas and the Nayaks. Geography The district is bounded by Theni in the west, Sivaganga in the east, Dindigul in the north, Virudhunagar in the south and small parts of Tiruchirappalli in the northeast. Climate The climate has extremes. There are three distinct periods of rainfall: * adva ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tamil Language
Tamil (, , , also written as ''Tamizhil'' according to linguistic pronunciation) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. It is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world,. "Tamil is one of the two longest-surviving classical languages in India" (p. 7). attested since 300 BC, 300 BCE.: "...the most acceptable periodisation which has so far been suggested for the development of Tamil writing seems to me to be that of A Chidambaranatha Chettiar (1907–1967): 1. Sangam Literature – 200BC to AD 200; 2. Post Sangam literature – AD 200 – AD 600; 3. Early Medieval literature – AD 600 to AD 1200; 4. Later Medieval literature – AD 1200 to AD 1800; 5. Pre-Modern literature – AD 1800 to 1900" at p. 610 Tamil was the lingua franca for early maritime traders in South India, with Tamil inscriptions found outside of the Indian subcontinent, such as Indonesia, Thailand, and Egypt. The language has a well-documented history wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Malayadhvaja Pandya
Malayadhvaja Pandya (), also known as Sharangadhvaja Pandya, is a legendary king of Madurai and ruler of the Pandya Empire. He is mentioned in the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. His queen consort is Kanchanamalai. He is the father of the goddess and queen of Madurai, Meenakshi. Legend According to a legend found in the Tamil text '' Tiruvilaiyadal Puranam'', the childless Malayadhvaja Pandya and his wife perform ninety-nine ashvamedha yajnas to propitiate the gods, seeking a son for the succession. However, a three-year-old girl emerged from the yajna fire, bearing three breasts, upon the lap of the queen. A heavenly voice stated that the royal couple should treat her like a son, and that she would lose the third middle breast when she met her future husband. The girl is named Taḍātakai, and subsequently raised as Malayadhvaja Pandya's male heir, trained in archery and horseriding. The king names her as his successor before his death. She is renamed Meenakshi by Sage Agasty ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India by population, sixth largest by population, Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, who speak the Tamil language—the state's official language and one of the longest surviving Classical languages of India, classical languages of the world. The capital and largest city is Chennai. Located on the south-eastern coast of the Indian peninsula, Tamil Nadu is straddled by the Western Ghats and Deccan Plateau in the west, the Eastern Ghats in the north, the Eastern Coastal Plains lining the Bay of Bengal in the east, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait to the south-east, the Laccadive Sea at the southern Cape (geography), cape of the peninsula, with the river Kaveri bisecting the state. Politically, Tamil Nadu is bound by the Indian sta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neelakanta Dikshitar
Nilakantha Diksita was a minister in the 17th century court of King Thirumalai Nayak of Madurai. He composed several poems and literary works, including Ananda Sagara Stavam. Biography Mahakavi Sri Neelakanta Deekshithar was born near the end of the 16 th century on 23 May 1594, born in the Tamil month of Vaigasi in the Jaya Varusha of Tamil Panchangam. He is of the Bharadwaja Gotra and a Sama Vedi. He was an ardent devotee of Goddess Meenakshi. He was from the lineage of the great advaitic saint Appaya Dikshita. During his ministerial job in the royal court of Tirumalai Nayaka King of Madurai (current day Tamil Nadu, India) under his supervision the Vasantha Mantapam or now known as Pudu Mandapa, at Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple was built.He also dug Vandiyur Theppakulam a big Pond. During excavatory work for the Pond a Vinayagar Idol was found and named as Mukkuruni Vinayagar placed now in Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple. During his old age he settled at Palamadai Sankar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
