Meenakshi

This article is about the goddess. For other uses, see Meenakshi (disambiguation).

Meenakshi
Patron and Guardian Goddess of Madurai[1]
Goddess Meenakshi
Other namesAṅgayaṟkaṇṇi, Taḍādakai, Mīnāṭci, Mantriṇi, Mangayakarasi, Maduraidevi
AffiliationParvati, Devi
AbodeMadurai
AnimalsRose-ringed parakeet
Genealogy
Parents
SiblingsAḻagar (Vishnu)
ConsortSundareśvarar (Shiva)
DynastyPandya dynasty[2]

Meenakshi (Sanskrit: मीनाक्षि, romanized: Mīnākṣi, Tamil: மீனாக்ஷி, romanized: Mīṉākṣi; also spelled as Minakshi; also known as Aṅgayaṟkaṇṇi,[2][3] Mīnāṭci and Taḍādakai)[4] is a Hindu goddess. She is the tutelary deity of Madurai and is considered a form of the goddess Parvati.[5] She is the divine consort of Sundareśvarar, a form of Shiva.[6] She finds mention in literature as the queen of the ancient Madurai-based Pandya kingdom, and is later deified.[7] The goddess is also extolled by Adi Shankara as Shri Vidya.[8]

She is mainly worshipped in India where she has a major temple devoted to her known as the Meenakshi Temple in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. Meenakshi, Kamakshi, and Visalakshi are considered the three Shakti forms of the goddess Parvati.[9]

  1. ^ The Great Temple of Madurai: English Version of the Book Koilmanagar. Sri Meenakshisundareswarar Temple Renovation Committee. 1963.
  2. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference William P. Harman 1992 24 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Proceedings of the First International Conference Seminar of Tamil Studies, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, April, 1966. International Association of Tamil Research. 1968. p. 543.
  4. ^ Menon, A. Sreedhara (1978). Cultural Heritage of Kerala: An Introduction. East-West Publications. p. 250.
  5. ^ Howes, Jennifer (2 September 2003). The Courts of Pre-Colonial South India: Material Culture and Kingship. Routledge. p. 27. ISBN 9781135789961.
  6. ^ Rajarajan, R. K. K. (1 January 2005). "Minaksi or Sundaresvara: Who is the first principle?". South Indian History Congress Annual Proceedings. XXV. Madurai: Madurai Kamaraj University: 551–553. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019.
  7. ^ Fiedler, Amanda (2006). Where does Meenakshi take her turmeric bath?: a multiply-constructed religious history and deity in Tamilnadu. University of Wisconsin--Madison. p. 1.
  8. ^ Journal of Kerala Studies. Vol. 36. University of Kerala. 2009. p. 97.
  9. ^ Nelson, Louis P. (2006). American Sanctuary: Understanding Sacred Spaces. Indiana University Press. p. 121. ISBN 9780253218223.