Who is meenakshi

Meenakshi was an incarnation of the goddess Parvati, a form she took because of a boon she granted to her devotee, Vidyavati. The royal couple could not have children for years and finally, as a solution, they performed a special yajna.

At the yajna, Meenakshi emerged from the sacred flames as a three year old girl. Although the king had wanted a son, he accepted Meenakshi without hesitation, after hearing a voice that told him that to bring her up like a prince.

She was destined to rule as a Pandian queen and would bring glory to his name. On one such expedition to Mount Kalinga, she came head to head with Shiva himself. It had been prophesied that Meenakshi would instantly be able to recognise her future husband, which is exactly what happened when she laid eyes on Shiva. Lord Vishnu hands over his sister. This is most evident in the Meenakshi Amman Temple. According to popular belief, the temple was originally built years ago by survivors of Kumari Kandam, the Indian equivalent of Atlantis.

In the historical records, however, the existence of this temple is first mentioned during the 7 th century AD. The temple was ransacked by Muslim invaders during the 14 th century, and was only rebuilt about two and a half centuries later. This is the structure that visitors are able to see today when they visit Madurai. Meenakshi is certainly one of the more fascinating goddesses in the Hindu pantheon.

According to one writer, Meenakshi may serve as an inspiration for young girls and women. The story of this goddess shows that females need not be bound by gender norms. Instead, they, like the goddess, may aspire to take on roles associated with males, and even excel in such roles. Top image: An image of the goddess Meenakshi. My God Pictures. Arni, S. The three-breasted warrior princess.

Meenakshi Temple. Meenakshi Amman Temple. Pattanaik, D. The Goddess Meenakshi of Madurai. Phenomenal Place, Although his primary interest is in the ancient civilizations of the Near East, he is also interested in other geographical regions, as well as other time periods Read More. Ancient Origins has been quoted by:.

At Ancient Origins, we believe that one of the most important fields of knowledge we can pursue as human beings is our beginnings. And while some people may seem content with the story as it stands, our view is that there exist countless mysteries, scientific anomalies and surprising artifacts that have yet to be discovered and explained.

The goal of Ancient Origins is to highlight recent archaeological discoveries, peer-reviewed academic research and evidence, as well as offering alternative viewpoints and explanations of science, archaeology, mythology, religion and history around the globe. By bringing together top experts and authors, this archaeology website explores lost civilizations, examines sacred writings, tours ancient places, investigates ancient discoveries and questions mysterious happenings.

Our open community is dedicated to digging into the origins of our species on planet earth, and question wherever the discoveries might take us. We seek to retell the story of our beginnings. There are beggars with bowls, and beggars with babies. But they all have a peculiar confidence when seeking donations. The temple, after all, welcomes about 15, visitors on a routine day, and collections from even a fraction of this host are enough to sustain their economy on the streets.

For all its known history, Madurai has been dominated by this temple, with its 33, sculptures and magnificent towers of monumental height. The eunuch general from Delhi, Malik Kafur, came uninvited to relieve the city of its burdensome riches in the early 14th century, and some generations later, Roberto de Nobili showed up seeking flocks of Christians.

The Italian convinced local priests that he was from a line of ancient, lost Roman Brahmins, flaunting a sacred thread, and by teaching the gospel in fluent Tamil and Telugu. The story of the Meenakshi temple, though, is the tale of a woman—a fearsome warrior queen transformed into a lovable goddess; a formidable mortal tranquillized into divine immortality. The Story Of The Sacred Games also called Tiruvilaiyadal puranam , a 13th century poem in 64 rich chapters, begins with a melancholy Pandyan king.

And when that failed I performed the sacrifice that was supposed to produce a son. So it was that Meenakshi—she with fish eyes, a political superlative since the fish was the totem of the Pandyas—made her appearance on earth.

He had sought a child but what he got was a freak. But a voice from the heavens reassured him and the three-nippled girl was raised as a boy, dissolving boundaries of gender and sex. When s he came of age, her parents said it was time to marry.

S he, however, decided it was time to conquer the world. With a furious army, Meenakshi set out from Madurai. Indra, Lord of the Heavens, fled at the very sight of his foe—and nobody laughed any more at the third nipple. Soon the conqueror climbed the Himalayas to battle Shiva. But when the fish-eyed one gazed upon him, the third breast disappeared and she became a regular woman.