Meenakshi Amman Temple ( Other names : Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple or Tiru-aalavaai
[1][2] or Meenakshi Amman Kovil) is a historic Hindu temple located in the southern bank of river
Vaigai[3] in the temple city
[4] of
Madurai,
Tamil Nadu,
India. It is dedicated to
Parvati who is known as
Meenakshi and her consort,
Shiva, named her as Sundareswarar. The temple forms the heart and lifeline of the 2500 year old city
[5] of Madurai. The complex houses 14 gateway towers called
gopurams, ranging from 45-50m in height, the tallest being the southern tower, 51.9 metres (170 ft) high,
[6] and two golden sculptured
vimana, the shrine over sanctum of the main deities. The temple is a significant symbol for the
Tamil people, and has been mentioned since antiquity in
Tamil literature, though the present structure is built during 1623 to 1655
CE[6][7][8] The temple attracts 15,000 visitors a day, around 25,000 during Fridays
[9] and gets an annual revenue of sixty million
. There is an estimated 33,000 sculptures in the temple
[9] and it was in the list of top 30 nominees of the "
New Seven Wonders of the World". The annual 10 day Meenakshi Tirukalyanam festival celebrated during April–May attracts 1 million visitors.
source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meenakshi_Amman_Temple
