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"The original temple was built by Kulasekara Pandya, but the entire credit for making the temple as splendid as it is today goes to the Nayaks. The Nayaks ruled Madurai from the 16th to the 18th century and left a majestic imprint of their rule in the Meenakshi - Sundareswarar Temple. "

You can go here for the rest of the info:
http://www.madurai.com/meena.htm

2006-10-08 10:14:53 · answer #1 · answered by GrlNamedJane 5 · 0 1

The Meenakshi temple is a Hindu temple in the Tamil Nadu city of Madurai. It was named after the Princess Meenakshi in Hindu mythology.

History

Initially there was only the Shiva temple. It was expanded by Vaishvanâtha of the Vijayanagara Empire in 1560 and took 120 years to complete, with most of the construction being done between 1623 and 1660 at the behest of Kulasekara Pandya. The massive structure measures 254 by 237 meters. The temple precinct is surrounded by nine gopurams (monumental gateways covered with sculpture) which rise up to 200 feet high. Its tallest spire rises 60 meters, and was for many years the tallest structure in its category in Asia.

The temple is dedicated to Shiva, known locally as Sundareshvara, and his consort Meenakshi, or Fisheyed One. The dual shrines dedicated to god and goddess add to the complexity of the plan. The Shiva shrine lies at the centre of the complex, suggesting that the ritual dominance of the goddess developed later. The shrines are small and crowned by modest shikaras (towers) with gold-plated finials. They are surrounded by their own walled and roofed enclosures with a connecting gate in their common side-wall.

http://www.answers.com/meenakshi%20temple

2006-10-15 02:30:05 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0 2

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