INTRODUCTION
Goddess Parvati Devi had taken the avatar of Meenakshi at the beginning of the Kali Yuga, that is before 5000 and odd years back. She came out from a sacrificial fire as a small child. She was brought up by the Pandiyan King, Malayadwaja and his wife Kanchanamalai. She was born from the sacrificial fire, due to the prayers of the Pandiyan couple. Her parents were sincere devotees of Lord Shiva, and through their great Bhakti, they were blessed to have goddess Parvati itself as their child.
The Pandiyan King named her as Meenakshi and took care of her properly and she studied the basic education and was an expert in all kinds of arts and was skilled in handling with powerful weapons. After some time, the pandiyan king crowned her as the princess of Madurai and she ruled the city of Madurai in a proper manner. She captured almost the entire region of the world and went to Indralok and defeated Lord Indra and captured the Swarkalok also. After some time, she went to Mount Kailash in order to capture it. But on seeing the sight of Lord Shiva, she felt shy on her act, and asked him to pardon her. Lord Shiva was very happy on seeing Meenakshi and they got married in Madurai.
It is believed that the wedding was attended by all the gods, goddesses, demi gods, saints and also by the devotees of Lord Shiva and Parvati. Since Mata Parvati herself had assumed the form of Meenakshi, Lord Vishnu, Parvati’s brother, handed her over to Lord Shiva. Even today, the wedding ceremony is celebrated every year as ‘Chithirai Thiruvizha’ which is also known as ‘Tirukalyanam’.
MEENAKSHI TEMPLE
The famous Meenakshi Amman temple is situated in Madurai, and the great temple was built by Kulashekara Pandiyan king before some thousands of years. The temple is dedicated to Meenakshi and Sundareswarar.
Meenakshi Amman Temple is one of the ancient temples in India. It is situated in Madurai and the temple has historical significance. It is believed that Lord Shiva had taken the form of Sundareswarar (the good looking one) and married Parvati (Meenakshi) at the site where the temple is currently located. The temple was renovated in the later years after it was built. Meenakshi Amman Temple was declared as one of the wonders of India with regard to its architecture and historical monuments. Daily thousands of devotees are visiting this temple to have a glimpse of their divine father and mother. During the annual ‘Tirukalyanam Festival,’ millions of devotees would visit this temple to participate in the festival. The temple is well-maintained by the temple authorities and free annadanam is also daily provided in this temple for hundreds of devotees. And apart from annadanam they are also conducting several social welfare activities like providing help to the orphaned children and free marriages are performed in the temple for the benefit of people belonging to scheduled castes, schedules tribes and Back ward classes.
IMPORTANCE
By worshiping this temple, people will get more braveness, boldness, courage, wisdom and knowledge. Goddess Meenakshi blesses her devotees and gives all sorts of prosperity in their life. It is mainly advisable for ladies to visit and worship in this temple before their marriage in order to get their good life partner and also to live with great courage, good physique and with spiritual energy in their mind. Mata Meenakshi will never leave her devotees to go from this temple with empty handed. She will give good health, wealth and with her divine blessings, devotee’s life will blossom like a flower. Hence it is advisable for the devotees to go to this temple at least once in a year and can get the blessings of Lord Shiva and Parvati.
Let us worship the divine couples and be blessed.
“OM SREE MEENAKSHI THAYE NAMAHA”
“OM SREE SUNDARESWARAR THANTHAIYE NAMAHA”
“OM NAMAH SHIVAYA”
SENT BY
R.HARISHANKAR
