• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

All around the complex of shrines and effigies, various pujas (prayers) and rituals are conducted as spontaneous expressions of personal, elated devotion, or under the guiding hand of the bare-chested Brahmin priest (also identified by their shaved foreheads, long hair tied in a knot, three horizontal stripes of ash on their forehead, signifying that they are Shaivite and brass trays with camphor and ash offerings). Layer upon layer of ghee and oil have turned surfaces of many of the statues smooth and black, with daubs of turmeric and vermilion powder sprinkled on by believers seeking blessings and hope.

At the heart of the complex are the sanctums of the goddess Meenakshi (Parvati) and of Sundareshvara (Shiva). What often eludes visitors to the heaving temple at Madurai is the city’s deeply imbedded cult of fertility; behind the reverence and severity of worship, the Meenakshi Temple is a celebration of the divine union of the eternal lovers, represented symbolically at around 8:30pm (could be earlier or later; ask on the day) when they are ceremoniously carried (a ritual you can observe until they enter the inner sanctum, which is off-limits to non-Hindus) before Shiva is deposited in the Meenakshi’s chamber (whose nose ring is even removed so as not to get in the way), retired for an evening of celestial fornication. This is the time to head

for the stairs around the great tank, where devotees gather to chat and relax at the end of the day. Many of the groups of people you see sitting around are in fact arranging their own unions; the temple is a place where men and women of marriageable age are presented to families.

Temple Tips:

• Dress sensibly: Visitors, both male and female, must be discreetly dressed to gain access—no exposed shoulders or bare midriffs or legs.

• Get a guide: For your first visit it is highly recommended that you do so accompanied by a good guide. We recommend you contact and book a visit with the knowledgeable, eloquent Rishi before even leaving (mobile 9843065687 or rishiguide@yahoo.co.in).

• Temple times: After visiting with a guide, go back just to wander around and enjoy the atmospheric scenes; serious photographers will also get very different photographs at various times of the day. A visit at the end of the day (around 8:30 or 9pm) when the divine couple is put to bed is recommended.

• Photographers take note: The taking of photographs must be discreet. People are here to worship and any form of intrusion by Westerners taking photographs is rude.

• Seeing it from above: Most of the souvenir shops in the vicinity of the temple will invite you to “come see temple view free only looking,” and once inside it’s quite hard to extricate yourself without purchasing something. The exception to this is Meenakshi Treasures, a government-recognized export house, on 30 North Chitrai St. ( 0452-263-0986). They also have lovely goods if you wish to browse.

Bounded by N., E., S., and W. Chitrai sts. 0452/234-4360.www.maduraimeenakshi.org. Admission Rs 50. Daily 5am–1pm and 4–10:30pm. Evening aarti 8:30pm. Thousand Pillar Museum: Rs 5. Daily 7am–8pm. No entrance to main sanctum for non-Hindus. Deposit shoes outside entrance.

WHERE TO STAY & DINE

There are plenty of places to stay in Madurai, and the best are reviewed below. Two others you may want to consider, both located north of the river, around 10 minutes’ drive from the temple, is the Fortune Pandiyan Hotel (www.fortunehotels.in) and Sangam (www.hotelsangam.com). Both are large and utterly characterless, and charge similar rates (around Rs 4,000–Rs 4,750 for a room; Rs 500 for an airport transfer); of the two, Sangam is currently preferable thanks to the more recent renovation efforts (2007). But given that you can bag a Club Room at Heritance for Rs 3,500 (see below), I wouldn’t think twice before booking one of these, the best-value rooms in town—move fast though, as there are only seven!

If you want to be walking distance