In our wish list of the places to be seen, Madurai-Rameshwaram-Kanyakumari also had its reservations. This was finally realized when we booked our 3 day package tour to MRK thru STC Tourism starting 13th Feb. The package costed Rs. 2,500 per head and only myself and Soumya went for it. The travel guy had told that all hotel reservations had been done and we would be put in Ramakrishna Towers in Madurai. On arrival at Madurai, a person by name Syeed will contact me and give the tour details for 3 days. On the night of 12th, we boarded a SRS semi-sleeper bus to Madurai at 9:30 PM and reached the temple city at around 6:15 AM.
We took a rick to hotel Sri Ramakrishna Towers, which was hardly a km from the bus stand, and the rick charged Rs. 30 for it. We woke up the hotel manager and showed him the receipt given at Bangalore. After sometime, he handed over the keys of room and said that Syeed will contact us by 9. We took some rest and freshened ourselves by 9 and then Syeed came and gave us the tour itinerary. Syeed had his travel agency - Bengal Travels and STC was its partner. He told we had time till 2 PM to relax, and then the Madurai sightseeing bus would come by 2:30 PM, and take us around Madurai and drop us near Meenakshi temple at around 6:30 PM. The next day, we had to be ready by 7:30 AM to go for Rameshwaram, and night halt would be at Kanyakumari. The day after, we needed to leave hotel at 6 AM for sunrise and then Kanyakumari sightseeing and later back to Madurai and Bangalore.
As we had lots of time in the morning, we thought of finishing Meenakshi temple as it was close by and in the evening, photos won’t come good. We left the hotel, had breakfast at the nearby Murugan Idly hotel and went to the temple. It was just a 10 min walk from our hotel and the outer compound wall was lengthy. The road leading to the temple was hopeless with lots of potholes and dust. As we came close to the South Tower, we were fascinated by its structure. The South tower was very colorful, rises to over 170 ft (52 m) high with 1511 statues and is the tallest among the 12 towers!
As we entered the temple, there were 2 queues - one free darshan and another special darshan for Rs. 15. We could take snaps of the temple by paying Rs. 50 for camera. As we entered, a marble replica of the temple was kept near the general queue. The ceilings were painted with different themes - the 8 forms of Goddess Sakthi, all God forms, wedding of Meenakshi Amman, etc.
The corridor of the main temple was amazing.
To the right was the Golden Lotus pond which was dried up. Its believed that it was in this pond that the Golden Lotus for Indra to perform His pooja bloomed. This pond is also known as Adhi Theertham, Sivaganga and Uthama Theertham.
At the far end, enclosing the Sundareshwar temple wall, there was an idol of Lord Ganesha.
We first went to Sundareshwar temple as it had less queue. 2 bronze statues guarded the entrance. The presiding deity there was Lord Shiva in the form of Sundareshwara. The Sundareshwara temple also had a big Prakara, and we took a round around it. There were deities of Kalabhairava and other deities within its corridor.
There was a big bronze Nandi in front of the temple, and numerous carved pillars all around.
Next we went to the main Meenakshi Amman temple and there was already a long queue for special darshan also, as it was Neyvedyam time. We stood in the long corridor between Meenakshi and Sundareshwar shrines.
We stood in the queue for more than 30 mins and finally we had the darshan of Meenakshi Amman. The idol stood far covered in natural lights only. After darshan, we came out of the sanctum and went towards the eastern entrance along the pond. At all places, the corridor ceilings were painted with some or other stuffs and it looked beautiful.
On the way, we found temple art museum and 1000 pillar mandapam, but we thought of visiting it later. The eastern side had two entrances and its tower was relatively small compared to the south one.
There was also a marriage hall besides it.
It was already 12:30 PM by then and we decided to go back to the hotel. On the way, we had lunch at Modern restaurant near South tower. The name was 'Modern', but they served traditional lunch on plantain leaves. As we were tired for hours of walking, we had proper lunch and came back to the hotel at around 1:45 PM. From our hotel rooftop, all the towers of Meenakshi temple was visible at a distance and it was a pleasant sight.
We slept for about half an hour when the ring from the reception woke us up. He told that the sightseeing bus had come and was waiting for us. We quickly got readied and left the hotel at 2:30 PM. The traveler bus was a mini tempo and we were the first ones to board it. we were wondering if we were the only people for sightseeing, but then the driver took us to some place and made us wait for 1 hour in the sun for other fellow tourists. We finally started our sightseeing trip at 3:30 PM.
First we went to Thirumalai Nayak Palace. This is the palace of 17th century Pandya ruler Thirumalai Nayak who contributed extensively to the Meenakshi Temple. The area is huge with colorful dooms. There is also a museum, which houses not only the original portraits of Thirumalai naicker, but also unearthed stone carvings of the 7th century, along with many sculptures of Hindu Gods like Brahma, Nataraja, Saraswati of the period. There is also a sound and light show conducted in the evening.
Next, we went to the Mariyamma Tank which is a huge tank with a temple in its centre.
Next, he took us to Gandhi Museum where Indian Independence struggle has been depicted in pictures from the time British came to India. There are some artifacts related to Gandhi also, and among them is the Gandhi's bloodstained dhoti which he wore on his last day when he was shot. This museum is good for those interested in India's freedom struggle.
Further continuing, he took us to Alagar Temple which is 20 kms away from Madurai located in the nearby hills (Alagarkoil). This is Vishnu Temple dedicated to Sundaraja Perumal (or) Alagar (beautiful). The Lord is considered the brother of Meenakshi (Lordes Paravathi) given in wedding with Sundareshwar (Lord Shiva). The temple is situated amidst a very picturesque surroundings.
Next on the way back to Madurai, we stopped at the SuryaNarayana temple which is a relatively new one. Inside the temple were huge idols of Lord Shiva, Karthikeya, Hanuman among other deities. Photography wasn't allowed inside it.
We came back to Madurai at around 7:30 PM and he dropped us near Meenakshi temple West tower. Regarding other places mentioned in the travel guide, like Madana Gopala temple, he told that it was nearby and could be visited after Meenakshi temple.
We came back to Meenakshi temple and entered it again via South tower to go to the 1000 pillar mandapam. There was a procession of the Lords going on it that area. As we entered, the replica of the temple was now lit and we could now understand the architecture of the temple and the corridors.
We went to the 1000 pillar mandapam and it was beautiful with each pillar having a source of light above it. At the far end was an idol of Lord Nataraja.
Here is a section of the 1000 pillar mandapam.
The temple art museum was within it and it had collections of ancient bronze idols of various dieties.
After seeing all these, we took Prasadam and left the temple premises. We had no patience to go to Madana Gopala temple as we were totally exhausted. We had food at the same Modern restaurant. In TamilNadu, where all places we have visited, dinner is not served at night at hotels. So, we had to have heavy snacks - parotha, roti and milk. We came back to the hotel, tired. After calling up our homes, we crashed on bed as next day we had to be ready by 7:30 AM.
For more information click on: Madurai, Meenakshi Amman temple.
For the temple art and architecture, click here.
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