Meenakshi Madurai

[Guest guest]

Could anyone share with us some information/stories/experiences

concerning the great Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple in Madurai, Tamil

Nadu? I have found some introductory materials, but would love to

learn more.

 

Tradition has it that Indra idly slaughtered a demon who was engaged

in meditation, trying to earn a better rebirth. Afterward, Indra was

weighed down with guilt and wandered aimlessly -- distraught and

unfocused -- for many days.

 

Then one day he arrived in a forest of Kadamba trees at Madurai, and

suddenly felt wonderful, completely rejuvenated. Upon inquiry, he was

told that this effect was due to the presence of a Shiva Linga under

one of the trees. So Indra worshiped the Linga and built a small

shrine over it (and to this day, the sanctum of Lord Sundareswara at

Madurai is referred to as the Indra Vimana).

 

Years later, a traveling merchant spent a night in this same Kadamba

grove, and -- upon awakening -- found that worship had been conducted

there while he slept. He informed his king, Kulashekhara Pandya, the

the gods worshipped in this forest, and the king ordered a temple

built there (in fact, Lord Shiva had appeared to the king in a dream

the previous night, instructing this response).

 

Kulashekhara's successor was Malayadhvaja Pandya. Thais king and his

wife, Kanchanamala, performed a sacrifice at the temple in hopes of

being blessed with a child. As they worshipped, Parvati Devi Herself

stepped out of the sacrificial fire in the form of a young girl. She

was a beautiful child, but extraordinary for the fact that She had

three breasts and an aggressively masculine disposition. Lord Shiva

appeared to the royal couple and told them not to be concerned; that

the third breasts would disappear when She met Her future consort. In

the meantime, they were to raise Her as a prince, not a princess.

 

And so the girl, named Thadathagai, was trained in the ways of

Kingship. She became a master of diplomacy, government and military

strategy, and -- upon Her father's death -- ascended the throne as

Queen, and -- in a campaign known as the "Digvijayam" -- went on to

conquer nearly all of India, north to the Himalayas. There she was

met by Lord Shiva -- whereupon Her third breast disappeared, and She

remembered Herself to be Goddess Parvati.

 

The couple returned to Madurai, where they were married with great

pomp and circumstance (both the Digvijaya and the marriage

celebration are annually celebrated at Madurai to this day.) The

divine couple ruled over Madurai as joint monarchs, taking the names

Sundara Pandya and Meenakshi. Then, placing the kingdom back into

human hands, the two went to the temple and merged with the deities

there, becoming Sundareswara and Goddess Meenakshi.

 

At Madurai, Shiva is respected, but Meenakshi reigns supreme. It is

customary for devotees to worship Her before -- or instead of --

seeking Lord Shiva's darshan. This the reverse of all other Shiva

temples. The idol of the Goddess Meenakshi is about four feet high

and made of a green stone called Marakatam. She is also worshipped as

the green-hued Goddess of speech, music and the arts, Devi Raja-

Maatangi, which I'll discuss in my next post.

 

Those are the bare bones of the Madurai temple's story, as I

understand them. Can anyone add more, and help bring the temple to

life for us?

 

Aum Maatangyai Namahe

[Guest guest]

I had a puja done there from www.saranam.com for Siva and Meenakshi

last year and during the puja or about the time I felt tons of energy

released and almost lifted off my feet. Since then I have been seeing

devas and so I think that Meenakshi's grace was very potent indeed.

That coupled with some of your articles here and some chants and

stuff has made me a true believer. In fact, to the degree that I just

cancelled my ticket at Kalachakra Graz 2002 and will refocus on Sri

Vidya cult. This makes me want to ask if anyone knows much about

these people at www.srividya.org

[Guest guest]

Hey Eve ...

 

It's quite amazing that you mention saranam.com; I was thinking about

ordering some pujas for the upcoming Vasant Navratri holiday -- hoping

for a little extra charge for my sadhana during that powerful

period. But the whole "order pujas online" thing kind of made my BS

detector tremble, the the site is very nice and seems well-meaning and

authentic. You may just have tipped the scale.

 

I wonder if any other members have thoughts or advice on this topic?

For those who don't have a particular favorite temple deity, they

offer some packages that might be of real interest to Shaktas. On just

a quick glance, I see this:

 

"Puja for Tri-Sakthi (Uttar Pradesh & Tamil Nadu): Puja will be

performed for Kamakshi in Kanchipuram, Meenakshi in Madurai and

Visalakshi in Varanasi."

 

Or this:

 

"Kali Package (Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal & Tamil Nadu): Puja will be

performed for Kali in Kanaka Durga Temple, Vijayawada, Kalighat

Temple, Calcutta and Kaligambal Temple , Chennai ..."

 

Yow. Talk about power packs! Also there's an Ashta-Lakshmi Puja, a

Lakshmi "package" puja (several Lakshmi temples) ... I'm sure there

are either packages or individual temple pujas to satisfy devotees of

Devi in almost any of Her most-worshiped Hindu forms -- there are just

hundreds of temples listed here! Here's a link to the packages, but if

you're interested, navigate around:

 

http://www.saranam.com/poojas/ms_packagepujas.asp

 

Thanks also, Eve, for mentioning my articles. Yours have blown my

mind on occasion, as well. ;-) In fact, there have been so many

amazing posts by so many members that I can't even begin to calculate

the inspiration they've provided. And the Group is now blessed with

some great new members who weren't around in the Club days; the bar

just keeps rising higher. It's great to see.

 

In addition to your www.srividya.org, there's an obscure link to a

Srividya group I'd hoped to share but can't find at the moment. Keep

reminding me and I'll get it up ASAP. Srividya looks like a topic with

growing popularity among the memnbers here.

 

Aum Maatangyai Namahe

[Guest guest]

saranam is very inexpensive so it's worth a shot or two. can't hurt

fer sure. what is a good idea is to go to actual temple website that

you like and see what exactly they offer for pujas. for instance at

kedarnath one can get laghu rudrabhishek done within sight of kailas

for about 200.00 us which is a bit much for me but I would do it if i

had the funds.

-

devi_bhakta

Thursday, April 04, 2002 6:03 PM

Re: Meenakshi Madurai

Hey Eve ...It's quite amazing that you mention saranam.com; I was

thinking about ordering some pujas for the upcoming Vasant Navratri

holiday -- hoping for a little extra charge for my sadhana during

that powerful period. But the whole "order pujas online" thing kind

of made my BS detector tremble, the the site is very nice and seems

well-meaning and authentic. You may just have tipped the scale.I

wonder if any other members have thoughts or advice on this topic?

For those who don't have a particular favorite temple deity, they

offer some packages that might be of real interest to Shaktas. On

just a quick glance, I see this:"Puja for Tri-Sakthi (Uttar Pradesh &

Tamil Nadu): Puja will be performed for Kamakshi in Kanchipuram,

Meenakshi in Madurai and Visalakshi in Varanasi."Or this:"Kali

Package (Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal & Tamil Nadu): Puja will be

performed for Kali in Kanaka Durga Temple, Vijayawada, Kalighat

Temple, Calcutta and Kaligambal Temple , Chennai ..."Yow. Talk about

power packs! Also there's an Ashta-Lakshmi Puja, a Lakshmi "package"

puja (several Lakshmi temples) ... I'm sure there are either packages

or individual temple pujas to satisfy devotees of Devi in almost any

of Her most-worshiped Hindu forms -- there are just hundreds of

temples listed here! Here's a link to the packages, but if you're

interested, navigate

around:http://www.saranam.com/poojas/ms_packagepujas.aspThanks also,

Eve, for mentioning my articles. Yours have blown my mind on

occasion, as well. ;-) In fact, there have been so many amazing posts

by so many members that I can't even begin to calculate the

inspiration they've provided. And the Group is now blessed with some

great new members who weren't around in the Club days; the bar just

keeps rising higher. It's great to see.In addition to your

www.srividya.org, there's an obscure link to a Srividya group I'd

hoped to share but can't find at the moment. Keep reminding me and

I'll get it up ASAP. Srividya looks like a topic with growing

popularity among the memnbers here.Aum Maatangyai NamaheTo

from this group, send an email

to:shakti_sadhnaaYour use of

Groups is subject to the

[Guest guest]

Of Copurse!! The Devipuram Guru is personally known to

me. He was a scientist in Atomic reseach in Bombay.

Menon

--- Eve _69 <eve__69 wrote:

> I had a puja done there from www.saranam.com for

> Siva and Meenakshi last year and during the puja or

> about the time I felt tons of energy released and

> almost lifted off my feet. Since then I have been

> seeing devas and so I think that Meenakshi's grace

> was very potent indeed. That coupled with some of

> your articles here and some chants and stuff has

> made me a true believer. In fact, to the degree that

> I just cancelled my ticket at Kalachakra Graz 2002

> and will refocus on Sri Vidya cult. This makes me

> want to ask if anyone knows much about these people

> at www.srividya.org

>

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Can you tell me more?

-

sankara menon

Thursday, April 04, 2002 9:20 PM

Re: Meenakshi Madurai

Of Copurse!! The Devipuram Guru is personally known tome. He was a

scientist in Atomic reseach in Bombay.Menon--- Eve _69

<eve__69 (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote:> I had a puja done there from

www.saranam.com for> Siva and Meenakshi last year and during the puja

or> about the time I felt tons of energy released and> almost lifted

off my feet. Since then I have been> seeing devas and so I think

that Meenakshi's grace> was very potent indeed. That coupled with

some of> your articles here and some chants and stuff has> made me a

true believer. In fact, to the degree that> I just cancelled my

ticket at Kalachakra Graz 2002> and will refocus on Sri Vidya cult.

This makes me> want to ask if anyone knows much about these people>

at www.srividya.org>

Do You

? Tax Center - online filing with

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is subject to the