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{{Short description|Hindu goddess, a form of Parvati}}
{{About|the goddess||Meenakshi (disambiguation)}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2026}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Hindu
| image = Minakshi.jpg
| name = Meenakshi
| caption = Meenakshi
| other_names = Aṅgayaṟkaṇṇi, Taḍādakai, Mīnāṭci, Mantriṇi, Mangayakarasi, Maduraidevi
| animals = [[Rose-ringed parakeet]]
| script_name =
| member_of =
| affiliation = [[Parvati]], [[Devi]]
| god_of = [[Tutelary deity]] of [[Madurai]]<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wJoTAAAAMAAJ&q=meenakshi+madurai | title=The Great Temple of Madurai: English Version of the Book Koilmanagar | year=1963 | publisher=Sri Meenakshisundareswarar Temple Renovation Committee }}</ref>
| consort = [[Shiva|Sundareswarar]] ([[Shiva]])
| father = [[Malayadhvaja Pandya]]
| mother = [[Kanchanamalai]]
| dynasty = [[Pandya dynasty]]
| mount =
| abode = [[Madurai]]
| siblings = Aḻagar ([[Vishnu]])
}}

'''Meenakshi''' (also [[Hunterian transliteration|spelt]] as '''Minakshi''' or '''{{transliteration|ta|ISO|Mīnāṭci|italic=no}}''', and also known as '''{{transliteration|ta|ISO|Aṅgayaṟkaṇṇi|italic=no}}''',{{sfn|Harman|1992|p=24}}<ref name="Tamil">{{cite book |title=Proceedings of the First International Conference Seminar of Tamil Studies, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, April, 1966 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cXoLAQAAIAAJ |year=1968 |publisher=International Association of Tamil Research |page=543 }}</ref> and '''{{transliteration|ta|ISO|Taḍādakai|italic=no}}'''<ref>{{Cite book|title=Cultural Heritage of Kerala: An Introduction|last=Menon|first=A. Sreedhara|date=1978|publisher=East-West Publications|page=250}}</ref>) is a [[Hindu goddess]]. She is considered as a form of the goddess [[Parvati]], and is the [[tutelary deity]] of [[Madurai]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Courts of Pre-Colonial South India: Material Culture and Kingship|last=Howes|first=Jennifer|date=2 September 2003|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-1-13578-996-1|page=27}}</ref> Along with [[Kamakshi Amman Temple|Kamakshi]] ([[Kanchipuram]]), and [[Vishalakshi Temple|Visalakshi]] ([[Varanasi]]), she is considered as one of the three [[avatar]]s of [[Avatar of Adi Shakti|Adi Shakti]].{{sfn|Harman|1992|p=24}}<ref name="Hindu">{{cite book|title=Hindu Pilgrimage Centres|last=Harshananda|first=Swami|ref=Harsha|edition=second|publisher=[[Ramakrishna Math]]|location=Bangalore|year=2012|isbn=978-8-17907-053-6|page=61}}</ref><ref>Bangala Bhasar Abhidhaan ( Dictioanary of the Bengali Language), Shishu Sahitya Samsad Pvt Ltd., 32A, APC Road, Kolkata – 700009, Volume 2, p.1600. (ed. 1988)</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=American Sanctuary: Understanding Sacred Spaces|last=Nelson|first=Louis P.|date=2006|publisher=[[Indiana University]] Press|isbn=978-0-25321-822-3|page=121}}</ref> She is represented as the divine consort of Sundaresvarar, a form of [[Shiva]], and the sister of Alagar, a form of [[Vishnu]].<ref name="Rajarajan">{{Cite journal|last=Rajarajan|first=R. K. K.|date=1 January 2005|title=Minaksi or Sundaresvara: Who is the first principle?|url=https://www.academia.edu/33832897|journal=South Indian History Congress Annual Proceedings
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330233050/https://www.academia.edu/33832897/Minaksi_or_Sundaresvara_Who_is_the_first_principle |archive-date=30 March 2019 |url-status=live |volume=XXV |publisher=[[Kamaraj University]] |location=Madurai |pages=551–553}}</ref>

Meenakshi finds mention in [[Tamil literature]] as the warrior queen of the ancient [[Pandya dynasty|Pandya kingdom]], and was later deified.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Where does Meenakshi take her turmeric bath?: a multiply-constructed religious history and deity in Tamilnadu|last=Fiedler|first=Amanda|date=2006|publisher=[[University of Wisconsin]]|location=Madison|page=1}}</ref> She is mainly worshipped in [[South India]], and has a [[Meenakshi Temple|major temple]] devoted to her in Madurai. She is usually portrayed with a raised right hand holding a [[Nelumbo nucifera|lotus]], on which sits a green [[Rose-ringed parakeet|parrot]], while her left hand hangs by her side.<ref name="Fuller">{{cite journal |first=Christopher |last=Fuller |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1062576 |title=South Indian Temple: Mīnākṣī and Sundareśvara at Madurai |journal=History of Religions |volume= 19 |issue= 4 |date=May 1980 |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |doi=10.1086/462855 |jstor=1062576 |pages=321–348}}</ref> [[Meenakshi Tirukalyanam]], the marriage of Meenakshi and Shiva is celebrated as a major festival.{{sfn|Harman|1992|pp=44–47}} She was also extolled as [[Shri Vidya]] by [[Adi Shankara]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Journal of Kerala Studies|date=2009|publisher=[[University of Kerala]]|volume=36|page=97}}</ref>

==Etymology==
{{transliteration|sa|ISO|Mīnākṣī}} is a [[Sanskrit]] term meaning 'fish-eyed',<ref>{{cite book |author=William P. Harman |title=The Sacred Marriage of a Hindu Goddess |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F_siW9T3ev4C&pg=PA24 |year=1992 |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |isbn=978-81-208-0810-2 |page=24 |access-date=5 June 2018 |archive-date=12 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201012054230/https://books.google.com/books?id=F_siW9T3ev4C&pg=PA24 |url-status=live }}</ref> derived from the words {{transliteration|sa|ISO|mīna}} 'fish' and {{transliteration|sa|ISO|akṣī}} 'eye'.<ref>{{cite book |editor=Manly Palmer Hall |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fZoUAAAAIAAJ |title=Horizon, Volume 9, Issue 3 |year=1949 |publisher=Philosophical Research Society |page=33 }}</ref> She was mentioned in early Tamil literature as {{transliteration|ta|ISO|Taḍādakai}} meaning 'fish-eyed one' in [[Tamil language|Tamil]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=An Environmental History of India: From Earliest Times to the Twenty-First Century|last=Fisher|first=Michael H.|date=18 October 2018|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=978-1-10711-162-2|page=74}}</ref> She is also known by the Tamil name {{transliteration|ta|ISO|Aṅgayaṟkaṇṇi}} or {{transliteration|ta|ISO|Aṅgayaṟkaṇṇammai}} ({{lit|the mother with the beautiful fish eyes}}).{{sfn|Harman|1992|p=24}}<ref name="Tamil"/> The name of might also mean "rule of the fish", derived from the Tamil words ''meen'' ('fish') and ''aatchi'' ('rule'), denoting the fish signage on the flag used by the [[Pandyas]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Journal of Indian History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pjRuAAAAMAAJ |year=2002 |publisher=Department of History, [[University of Kerala]] |page=96 }}</ref><ref>{{citation|title=A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Tamil Language, Vol. VII, PART - II|page=68|quote=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")}}</ref>

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.<ref name="WNB_1978">{{cite book |author=William Norman Brown |chapter=The Name of the Goddess Mīnākṣī "Fish-Eye" |title=India and Indology: Selected Articles |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BdaXdGm8h9gC&pg=PA84 |year=1978 |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |pages=84–86 |oclc=871468571 |access-date=5 June 2018 |archive-date=12 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201012054230/https://books.google.com/books?id=BdaXdGm8h9gC&pg=PA84 |url-status=live }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book |author=Klaus K. Klostermaier |title=A Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v1UQBwAAQBAJ&pg=PT153 |year=2014 |publisher=Oneworld |isbn=978-1-78074-672-2 |page=153 |access-date=5 June 2018 |archive-date=12 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201012054232/https://books.google.com/books?id=v1UQBwAAQBAJ&pg=PT153 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Texts==
''Meenakshi Pancharatnam'' (five jewels of Meenakshi) is an incantation to Meenakshi composed by [[Adi Shankara]] (8th century CE).<ref name=":0" /> Though Meenakshi does not directly appear in the [[Lalita Sahasranama]], there is a reference to her in the line ''Vaktralakṣmī parīvāha calan mīnābha ocanā'' (She who has the face of Lakshmi and has fish-like eyes in the river of her face).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rupenaguntla |first=Satya Narayana Sarma |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PT0fEAAAQBAJ&dq=Vaktra+lak%E1%B9%A3m%C4%AB+par%C4%ABv%C4%81ha&pg=PT21 |title=Hidden meanings of Lalita Sahasranama |date=29 May 2018 |publisher=Panchawati Spiritual Foundation |page=21 }}</ref> Several great hymns on the goddess were composed in [[History of India#Early modern period (c. 1526–1858 CE)|the early modern period]] by many saints and scholars such as [[Neelakanta Dikshitar]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Atyar|first=N Natesa|url=http://archive.org/details/AnandaSagaraStavam|title=Preface to Ananda Sagara Stavam}}</ref> [[Tamil literature]] portrays Meenakshi as the intersection of domesticity and divinity.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Birth and birthgivers : the power behind the shame|date=2006|publisher=Shakti Books|editor-last=Chawla|editor-first=Janet|isbn=8-12410-938-9|location=New Delhi|oclc=181090767}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Extraordinary Child: Poems from a South Asian devotional genre|last=Richman|first=Paula|publisher=[[University of Hawaii Press]]|year=1997|location=Honolulu}}</ref>

==Legend==
[[File:Madurai Meenakshi Temple painting.JPG|thumb|Painting on the wall of the [[Meenakshi temple]] depicting the legend of Meenakshi]]

According to the 16th century CE Tamil text of ''[[Thiruvilaiyadal Puranam]]'', king [[Malayadhwaja Pandya]] and his wife Kanchanamalai performed a [[yajna]] seeking a son to succeed the king.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Sacred Sports of Siva - Introduction |url=https://shaivam.org/scripture/English-Translation/1488/thiruvilaiyadal-puranam-introduction/#gsc.tab=0 |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=Shaivam }}</ref> A daughter appeared out of the [[Agni|fire]], who was three years old and had three breasts. When the parents prayed to lord Shiva, a divine voice advised them to bring up the child, and that she will lose the third breast when she meets her future husband. The girl grew up in the palace, and the king crowned her as his successor. When she finally met Shiva, who took the form of Sundareswarar, she took her true form of Meenakshi, an incarnation of Parvati. [[Meenakshi Tirukalyanam]], the marriage of Meenakshi and Shiva was a grand event, with the attendance of various Hindu gods, and other celestial and living beings.{{sfn|Harman|1992|pp=44–47}}{{sfn|Brockman|2011|pp=326–327}}

According to religious scholar William P. Harman, the story may reflect the [[matrilineal]] traditions prevalent in [[South India]] during the time and the regional beliefs that "[spiritual] powers rest with the women", gods listen to their spouse, and that the fates of kingdoms rest with the women.{{sfn|Harman|1992|pp=44–47}} According to historian [[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.<ref>{{cite book|author=Susan Bayly|title=Saints, Goddesses and Kings: Muslims and Christians in South Indian Society, 1700-1900|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fxqtx8SflEsC|year=1989|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-89103-5|pages=29–30|access-date=25 November 2017|archive-date=25 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225051226/https://books.google.com/books?id=Fxqtx8SflEsC|url-status=live}}</ref> According to anthropologist [[Chris Fuller (academic)|Christopher Fuller]], the wedding represents a symbolic paradigm for human marriages during the time.<ref name="Fuller"/>

==Meenakshi Temple==
[[File:India Meenakshi Temple.jpg|thumb|A [[Gopuram]] of the [[Meenakshi Temple]] at [[Madurai]]]]
The [[Meenakshi Temple]] in [[Madurai]] is dedicated to Meenakshi, who is worshipped as the primary deity in the temple. Also referred to as Meenakshi Amman or Meenakshi-Sundareswarar Temple,<ref name="Brit">{{Cite web|title=Madurai |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Madurai|access-date=1 January 2023|work=[[Britannica]]}}</ref>{{sfn|Ramaswamy|2007|pp=9–10, 103, 210, 363–364}} The shrines of Meenakshi and her consort Sundareswarar are located next to each other in the inner courtyard.<ref name="Rajarajan"/><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CGukBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA169|title=Rediscovering the Hindu Temple: The Sacred Architecture and Urbanism of India|last1=Bharne|first1=Vinayak|last2=Krusche|first2=Krupali|date=18 September 2014|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|isbn=978-1-44386-734-4|access-date=3 October 2020|archive-date=12 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201012054233/https://books.google.com/books?id=CGukBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA169|url-status=live}}</ref>

Though the temple was mentioned in texts from 6th century CE, it was built extensively during the rule of the Pandyas in the 11th to 12th century CE. After most of the temple was destroyed in the early 14th century by the armies of [[Delhi Sultanate]], the temple was rebuilt after during the [[Vijayanagara Empire|Vijayanagara rule]] in the late 14th to 15th centuries.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Tara Boland-Crewe|author2=David Lea|title=The Territories and States of India|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=lXCOAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT401|year=2003|publisher=Routledge|isbn=1-135-35624-6|page=401}}</ref><ref name=fuller94>{{cite book|author = Christopher Fuller | year= 2003|chapter= Madurai|editor= George Michell|title= Temple Towns of Tamil Nadu|publisher= Marg| isbn=978-81-85026-213| pages= 94–113}}</ref> Most of the present masonry was rebuilt after the 14th century CE, and the temple was furtherrenovated and expanded in the 16th and 17th centuries by the [[Madurai Nayaks]].{{sfn|King|2005|pp=72–74}}{{sfn|D. Uma|2015|pp=39–40}}

The main shrines are located in the center of the temple complex, surrounded by various monuments inside concentric [[prakaram]]s (enclosures). The enclosures are fortified with high masonry walls, with the outer walls having four towering [[gopurams]] (gateways), one each on either direction, which allow people to enter the complex from all four directions. The complex has numerous sculpted pillared [[mandapa]] including the Ayirakkal mandapam (thousand pillar hall). There are various shrines are dedicated to Hindu deities inside the temple complex. The [[Vimana (architectural feature)|vimanas]] above the [[garbhagriha]]s (sanctums) of Meenakshi and Sundareśvarar are gilded with gold.<ref name=fuller94/><ref>{{cite book|author=Brian A. Hatcher|title=Hinduism in the Modern World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IdeoCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA20 |year=2015|publisher= [[Routledge]]|isbn=978-1-135-04631-6|pages=20–21}}</ref>{{sfn|D. Uma|2015|pp=34–47}}

The temple is a major pilgrimage destination within the [[Shaivism]] tradition, dedicated to Meenakshi and Shiva.{{sfn|Subramanian|2003|p=96}} As Vishnu is considered to be Meenakshi's brother, it is mentioned as [[Mathura]] of the South in the [[Vaishnava]] texts.<ref>{{cite book|author=Edwin Francis Bryant|title=Krishna: A Sourcebook|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0z02cZe8PU8C&pg=PA546 |year=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-803400-1|pages=546 with note 45}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=T. Padmaja|title=Temples of Kr̥ṣṇa in South India: History, Art, and Traditions in Tamilnāḍu|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pzgaS1wRnl8C&pg=PA98|year=2002 |publisher =Abhinav Publications|isbn=978-8-17017-398-4|pages=97–99}}</ref> The large temple complex is the most prominent landmark in Madurai and attracts tens of thousands visitors a day.{{sfn|Gopal|1990|p=181}} The temple attracts over a million pilgrims and visitors during the annual 10-day [[Chithirai festival]] , celebrated with much festivities and a [[temple car|ratha]] (chariot) procession during the [[Tamil calendar|Tamil month]] of [[Chittirai]].<ref name="Eck2013p277">{{cite book|author=Diana L. Eck|author-link=Diana L. Eck|title=India: A Sacred Geography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PyC4o7i9tnEC&pg=PA277|year=2013|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-0-385-53192-4|pages=277–279}}</ref>

==References==
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==External links==
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[[Category:Forms of Parvati]]
[[Category:Tamil deities]]
[[Category:Tamil monarchs]]
[[Category:Pandyan kings]]

Meenakshi - Revision history

Vaidehitaman at 17:22, 7 May 2026