Madurai, Part 2

Slippers checked at shoe-keeper. Security passed. Entrance tickets bought, so for the camera.  We were in finally; after all this temple was the highlight of visiting Madurai one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.

Some facts from online sources

Meenakshi Amman Temple is a historic Hindu temple located in the in the temple city of Madurai, Tamil Nadu. It is dedicated to goddes Parvati who is known as Meenakshii and her consort, Shiva named her as Sundareswarar. The temple forms the heart and lifeline of the 2500 year old city of Madurai. The complex houses 14 gateway towers and two golden sculptured vimana  ( the shrine over sanctum of the main deities). The temple is a significant symbol for the Tamil people, though the present structure is built during early 17^th century.  The temple attracts 15,000 visitors a day. There is an estimated 33,000 sculptures in the temple and it was in the list of top 30 nominees of the "New Seven Wonders of The World".

East Tower Entrance.

Enter through the east tower, on the right is the “Aayiram Kaal Mandapam” (1000 Pillar Hall). This was our first stop off.

The thousand pillar hall is regarded as the 'wonder of the palace'. The largest hall in the temple complex, it was built in the 1569. There are exactly 985 beautifully decorated columns. Each pillar is beautifully sculptured and presents the glory of the Dravidian sculpture. This hall also houses a Temple Art Museum, where you can see icons, photographs, drawings, etc., exhibiting the 1200 years old history.

Temple complex miniature

This massive shrine holds many halls, courtyards, corridors, thousands of idols and temple tank.

An in house guide approached us something that I expected.
He insisted that we make use of his service.  We were reluctant in the beginning but gave up eventually. Undeniably it’s impossible to explore the entire complex all by ourselves.

At a point we blindly followed him while paying attention to his explanations not knowing which corner or nook we were.

It took close to two hours to complete the tour in which time we came out the tailor has completed the bf’s order.