Madurai - History of Meenakshi Amman Temple

Meenakshi Amman Temple is immediately reminiscent of Madurai. The Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple is one of the foremost temples dedicated to Lord Shiva and Goddess Amman. Meenakshi Sannidanam is primarily considered to be the birthplace of Meenakshi in Madurai. The tradition of worshiping Lord Shiva is followed by the worship of Goddess. The temple has Meenakshi and Sundareswarar as the primary idols and the Kadamba tree as the head idol. It is believed that Lord Shiva came to the Pandyan king Kulasekara Pandian in a dream and he destroyed the forest called Kadambavanam and established the city of Madurai and this Shiva power base. Madurai is also known as Nanmadakkudal as it has four balconies around the Meenakshi Amman Temple. According to a legend, the name Alvai was derived from the fact that one of the ornaments of Lord Shiva, the serpent, circled with its tail and pointed at the border of Ithalat.