Wikipedia

Meenakshi

This article is about the goddess. For other uses, seeMeenakshi (disambiguation).

Meenakshi(Sanskrit:मीनाक्षि,romanized:Mīnākṣi,Tamil:மீனாக்ஷி,romanized:Mīṉākṣi;alsospelledasMinakshi;also known asAṅgayaṟkaṇṇi,[2][3]MīnāṭciandTaḍādakai)[4]is aHindu goddess.She is thetutelary deityofMaduraiand is considered a form of the goddessParvati.[5]She is the divine consort of Sundareśvarar, a form ofShiva.[6]She finds mention in literature as the queen of the ancient Madurai-basedPandya kingdom,and is later deified.[7]The goddess is also extolled byAdi ShankaraasShri Vidya.[8]

Meenakshi
Patron and Guardian Goddess ofMadurai[1]
Goddess Meenakshi
Other namesAṅgayaṟkaṇṇi, Taḍādakai, Mīnāṭci, Mantriṇi, Mangayakarasi, Maduraidevi
AffiliationParvati,Devi
AbodeMadurai
AnimalsRose-ringed parakeet
Genealogy
Parents
SiblingsAḻagar (Vishnu)
ConsortSundareśvarar(Shiva)
DynastyPandya dynasty[2]

She is mainly worshipped in India where she has a major temple devoted to her known as theMeenakshi TempleinMadurai,Tamil Nadu.Meenakshi,Kamakshi,andVisalakshiare considered the three Shakti forms of the goddess Parvati.[9]

Etymology

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Mīnākṣīis aSanskritterm meaning 'fish-eyed',[10]derived from the wordsmīna'fish' andakṣī'eye'.[11]She was also known by theTamilnameTaḍādakai'fish-eyed one', mentioned in early historical account as a fierce, unmarried goddess as Meenakshi.[12]She is also known by the Tamil nameAṅgayaṟkaṇṇiorAṅgayaṟkaṇṇammai(lit. 'the mother with the beautiful fish eyes').[2][3]According to another theory, the name of the goddess literally means 'rule of the fish', derived from theTamilwordsmīn'fish' andāṭci'rule'.[13][14]

Various meanings of this appellation have been suggested, including that she was originally a goddess of the fisher-folk, that her eyes are "large and brilliant" like that of a fish, or that she has "long and slender" eyes shaped like the body of a fish. Another interpretation is that the name is based on the belief that the fish never close their eyes: the goddess similarly never stops watching over her devotees.[15]Yet another interpretation states that the name is based on the ancient belief that the fish feed their young by merely looking at them; the goddess supposedly supports her devotees by merely glancing at them.[16]There are the three avatars ofAdi Shakti:Kamakshi,[17]Vishalakshiin the north,[18]and Meenakshi in the south.[2]

Texts

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Several great hymns on the goddess were composed inthe early modern periodby many saints and scholars, including the famousNeelakanta Dikshita.ThestotramMeenakshi Pancharatnam(Five Jewels of Meenakshi) is an incantation to Meenakshi that was composed byAdi Shankara(8th century CE).[8]Though Meenakshi does not directly appear in the stotramLalita Sahasranama,there is a reference to her in the lineVaktralakṣmī parīvāha calan mīnābha ocanā(She who has the face of Lakshmi and has fish-like eyes in the river of her face).[19]

One Tamil poem/song (Tamilpillai) portrays Meenakshi as the intersection of domesticity and divinity:[20]

The greatShivawith themetel flower/ Wanders through the courtyard of space / Destroyingyour workagain and again / And then he comes before you. // You never get angry. / Every day you just pick up the vessels.[21]

Legend

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The 13th century TamilShaivatextTiruvilaiyadal Puranammentions kingMalayadhvaja Pandyaand his wifeKanchanamalai,who performed ayajnaseeking a son for an heir. Instead, a daughter is born, who is already three-years old, and has three breasts. Shiva intervenes and informs the parents to treat her like a son, telling them that when she meets her husband, she would lose the third breast. They follow this advice. The girl grows up, the king crowns her as his heir. When she meets Shiva, his words come true, she takes her true form of Meenakshi.[22][23]According to Harman, this may reflect the matrilineal traditions in South India and the regional belief that "penultimate [spiritual] powers rest with the women", gods listen to their spouse, and that the fate of kingdoms rest with the women.[22]According to Susan Bayly, the reverence for Meenakshi is a part of the Hindu goddess tradition that integrates with the Hindu society where the "woman is the lynchpin of the system" of social relationships.[24]Her eyes are fabled to bring life to the unborn.[citation needed]

Meenakshi Temple

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AGopuramofMeenakshi TempleatMadurai

Thetemple complexinMadurai, Tamil Nadu,India is dedicated to Meenakshi who is worshipped as the primary deity. It is also referred to as Meenakshi Amman or Meenakshi-Sundareśvarar Temple.[25][26]Meenakshi's shrine is next to that of her consortSundareśvarar,a form ofShiva.[6][27]

Though the temple has historic roots dating back to 2000 BCE, most of the present campus structure was rebuilt after the 14th century CE, further repaired, renovated and expanded in the 17th century byTirumala Nayaka.[28][29]In the early 14th century, the armies ofDelhi Sultanateled by Muslim CommanderMalik Kafurplundered the temple, looted it of its valuables and destroyed the Madurai temple town along with many other temple towns of South India.[25][30][31]The contemporary temple is the result of rebuilding efforts started by theVijayanagara Empirerulers who rebuilt the core and reopened the temple.[25][32]In the 16th century, the temple complex was further expanded and fortified. The restored complex houses 14gopurams(gateway towers), each above 45 metres (148 ft) in height. The complex has numerous sculpted pillared halls such as Ayirakkal (1,000 pillar hall), Kilikoondu-mandapam, Golu-mandapam and Pudu-mandapam. Its shrines are dedicated to Hindu deities and Shaivism scholars, with thevimanasabove thegarbhagrihas(sanctums) of Meenakshi and Sundareśvarar gilded with gold.[32][33][34]

The temple is a major pilgrimage destination within the Shaivism tradition, dedicated to Meenakshi and Shiva. However, the temple includes Vishnu in many narratives, sculptures and rituals as he is considered to be Meenakshi's brother.[35]This has made this temple and Madurai as the "southern Mathura", one included in Vaishnava texts.[36][37]The large temple complex is the most prominent landmark in Madurai and attracts tens of thousands visitors a day.[38]The temple attracts over a million pilgrims and visitors during the annual 10-dayMeenakshi Tirukalyanamfestival, celebrated with much festivities and aratha(chariot) procession during the Tamil month of Chittirai (overlaps with April–May in Georgian calendar, Chaitra in North India).[39]

References

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  1. ^The Great Temple of Madurai: English Version of the Book Koilmanagar.Sri Meenakshisundareswarar Temple Renovation Committee. 1963.
  2. ^abcdefWilliam P. Harman (1992).The Sacred Marriage of a Hindu Goddess.Motilal Banarsidass. p. 24.ISBN978-81-208-0810-2.
  3. ^abProceedings of the First International Conference Seminar of Tamil Studies, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, April, 1966.International Association of Tamil Research. 1968. p. 543.
  4. ^Menon, A. Sreedhara (1978).Cultural Heritage of Kerala: An Introduction.East-West Publications. p. 250.
  5. ^Howes, Jennifer (2 September 2003).The Courts of Pre-Colonial South India: Material Culture and Kingship.Routledge. p. 27.ISBN9781135789961.
  6. ^abRajarajan, R. K. K. (1 January 2005)."Minaksi or Sundaresvara: Who is the first principle?".South Indian History Congress Annual Proceedings.XXV.Madurai: Madurai Kamaraj University: 551–553.Archivedfrom the original on 30 March 2019.
  7. ^Fiedler, Amanda (2006).Where does Meenakshi take her turmeric bath?: a multiply-constructed religious history and deity in Tamilnadu.University of Wisconsin--Madison. p. 1.
  8. ^abJournal of Kerala Studies.Vol. 36. University of Kerala. 2009. p. 97.
  9. ^Nelson, Louis P. (2006).American Sanctuary: Understanding Sacred Spaces.Indiana University Press. p. 121.ISBN9780253218223.
  10. ^William P. Harman (1992).The Sacred Marriage of a Hindu Goddess.Motilal Banarsidass. p. 24.ISBN978-81-208-0810-2.Archivedfrom the original on 12 October 2020.Retrieved5 June2018.
  11. ^Manly Palmer Hall, ed. (1949).Horizon, Volume 9, Issue 3.Philosophical Research Society. p. 33.
  12. ^Fisher, Michael H. (18 October 2018).An Environmental History of India: From Earliest Times to the Twenty-First Century.Cambridge University Press. p. 74.ISBN9781107111622.
  13. ^Journal of Indian History.Department of History, University of Kerala. 2002. p. 96.
  14. ^Excerpt for the etymology of Meenatchi from "A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Tamil Language, Vol. VII, PART - II",page 68: மீனாட்சி,Mīṉāṭci, பெ. (n. ) மதுரையை உறைவிடமாகக் கொண்ட தெய்வம்; Umā, the tutelary Goddess of Madurai. [மீன் + ஆட்சி. மீனைக் கொடியில் சின்னமாகக் கொண்டவள்.] Translation: [ Meen + Aatchi. Her who put the fish as symbol for the flag.] (மீன் - Mīṉ which means" fish ", ஆட்சி- āṭci which means" rule ")
  15. ^William Norman Brown (1978)."The Name of the Goddess Mīnākṣī" Fish-Eye "".India and Indology: Selected Articles.Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 84–86.OCLC871468571.Archivedfrom the original on 12 October 2020.Retrieved5 June2018.
  16. ^Klaus K. Klostermaier (2014).A Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism.Oneworld. p. 153.ISBN978-1-78074-672-2.Archivedfrom the original on 12 October 2020.Retrieved5 June2018.
  17. ^Harshananda, Swami (2012).Hindu Pilgrimage Centres(second ed.). Bangalore: Ramakrishna Math. p. 61.ISBN978-81-7907-053-6.
  18. ^Bangala Bhasar Abhidhaan ( Dictioanary of the Bengali Language), Shishu Sahitya Samsad Pvt Ltd., 32A, APC Road, Kolkata – 700009, Volume 2, p.1600. (ed. 1988)
  19. ^Rupenaguntla, Satya Narayana Sarma (29 May 2018).Hidden meanings of Lalita Sahasranama.Panchawati Spiritual Foundation. p. 21.
  20. ^Chawla, Janet, ed. (2006).Birth and birthgivers: the power behind the shame.New Delhi: Shakti Books.ISBN8124109389.OCLC181090767.
  21. ^Richman, Paula (1997).Extraordinary Child: Poems from a South Asian devotional genre.Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press.
  22. ^abHarman 1992,p. 44-47.
  23. ^Brockman 2011,pp. 326–327.
  24. ^Susan Bayly (1989).Saints, Goddesses and Kings: Muslims and Christians in South Indian Society, 1700-1900.Cambridge University Press. pp. 29–30.ISBN978-0-521-89103-5.Archivedfrom the original on 25 December 2018.Retrieved25 November2017.
  25. ^abc"Madurai".www.britannica.com.Retrieved1 January2023.
  26. ^Vijaya Ramaswamy (2017).Historical Dictionary of the Tamils.Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. pp. 9–10, 103, 210, 363–364.ISBN978-1-5381-0686-0.Archivedfrom the original on 19 September 2020.Retrieved25 November2017.
  27. ^Bharne, Vinayak; Krusche, Krupali (18 September 2014).Rediscovering the Hindu Temple: The Sacred Architecture and Urbanism of India.Cambridge Scholars Publishing.ISBN9781443867344.Archivedfrom the original on 12 October 2020.Retrieved3 October2020.
  28. ^King 2005,pp. 72–74.
  29. ^D. Uma 2015,pp. 39–40.
  30. ^Michell 1995,pp. 9-10
  31. ^Tara Boland-Crewe; David Lea (2003).The Territories and States of India.Routledge. p. 401.ISBN1-135-35624-6.,Quote: "By the beginning of the 14th century south India was exposed to the depredations of Muslim raiders from the north, and even Madurai was destroyed in 1310, by Malik Kafur, briefly becoming the seat of a sultanate thereafter."
  32. ^abChristopher Fuller (2003). "Madurai". In George Michell (ed.).Temple Towns of Tamil Nadu.Marg. pp. 94–113.ISBN978-81-85026-213.
  33. ^Brian A. Hatcher (2015).Hinduism in the Modern World.Routledge. pp. 20–21.ISBN978-1-135-04631-6.
  34. ^D. Uma 2015,pp. 34–47.
  35. ^V. K. Subramanian (2003).Art Shrines of Ancient India.Abhinav Publications. pp. 95–96.ISBN978-81-7017-431-8.
  36. ^Edwin Francis Bryant (2007).Krishna: A Sourcebook.Oxford University Press. pp. 546 with note 45.ISBN978-0-19-803400-1.
  37. ^T. Padmaja (2002).Temples of Kr̥ṣṇa in South India: History, Art, and Traditions in Tamilnāḍu.Abhinav Publications. pp. 97–99.ISBN978-81-7017-398-4.
  38. ^Gopal 1990,p. 181.
  39. ^Diana L. Eck(2013).India: A Sacred Geography.Random House. pp. 277–279.ISBN978-0-385-53192-4.

Bibliography

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