Meenakshi amman temple

Menakshi sundareswara temple or meenakshi amman temple or tiru-aalavaai is a historic Hindu temple located in the southern-banks of river vaigai in the temple city of Madurai, Tamil nadu , India. the temple forms the heart and lifeline of the 2500 year old city of Madurai.
the temple is a significant symbol for the Tamil people. ans has been mentioned since antiquity in Tamil literature, though the present structure is built during 1623 to 1655 ce. the temple attracts 15000 visitors a day, around 25000 during Friday [9] and gets an annual revenue of sixty million rupees there is an estimated 33000 sculptures in the temple and it was in the list of top 30 nominees of the new seven wonders of the world.

The temple is the geographic and tiruat center of the ancient city of Madurai and one of the largest temple complexes in Tamil nadu. it is one of the few temples in Tamil nadu to have four entrances facing four directions. the city was laid out in the shape of square with a series of concentric streets culminating from the Temple. these squares continue to retain their traditional names, Aadi , chettirai, avani-moola and masi streets, corresponding to Tamil month names/


The temple is surrounded by gopurams. there are ten gopuram the tallest of which, the famous southern tower, rises to over 170 ft (52 m) and was built in 1559. the oldest gopuram is the eastern one, built by maravarman sundara pandyan during 1216-1238. each gopuram is a multi-storeyed structure, covered with thousands of stone figures of animals, gods and demons painted in bright hues. the outer gopuram presents steeply pyramdal tower encrusted with plastic figures, while the inner gopurameserves as the entrance to the inner enclosure of sundareswarar shrine.