The eastern tower .The temple is to Shiva, as Sundareshvara and his consort Parvati or Meenakshi. Built by Kulasekara Pandya.
The eastern tower at temple complex is to Shiva, as Sundareshvara and his consort Parvati or Meenakshi. Originallly built by Kulasekara Pandya, but 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 us Meenakshi - Sundareswarar Temple. The temple is a high-walled enclosure, with two sanctums for Meenakshi and Sundareshwara, with smaller shrines and grand pillared halls. The 12 gopuras, Their soaring towers rise from solid granite bases, and are covered with stucco figures of dieties, mythical animals and monsters painted in vivid colours. There are 12 temple towers(Gopurams). The outer towers are the landmarks of Madurai. They are: East Tower (Nine Storeys). Height 161'3". This Gopura has 1011 sudhai figures. The South Tower (Nine Storeys). Height 170'6". This Tower has 1511 sudhai figures. The West Tower (Nine Storeys). Height 163'3". This Tower has 1124 sudhai figures and the North Tower (Nine Storeys). Height 160'6". This Tower has lesser figures of sudhai than other outer towers. This temple tank is where devotees take bath in the holy water. The area TamilSangam - is the ancient academy of poets, this academy judged the worth of any work of literature presented to it by throwing it into the tank. Only those that did not sink were considered worthy of attention.
Size: 4196px × 4043px
Location: Madurai, India
Photo credit: © Tom Hanley / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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