Legs covered for visiting temple
by Willettsworld
Before I was allowed to enter inside the Sri Meenakshi Sundareshvara Temple, I was told that I had to cover my legs as I was wearing shorts. My guidebook didn't mention this and so I was stuck with a dilemma - should I walk all the way back to my hotel and change or should I look around for something to cover my legs with (a piece of material, for example)? I decided on the latter and found a fabric/tailor shop across the road from the temples main east entrance and managed to buy a cheap piece of fabric material, a metre wide and long, so that I could wrap around my legs. This felt and looked a bit weird to me, but guys here where this sort of thing called, I think, a veshti, so I didn't look out of place! Anyway, be aware about this and maybe wear a pair of trousers instead.
Sri Meenakshi Temple
by Canadienne
You enter the massive Sri Meenakshi complex through tall gopuras (gateways) that are decorated with brightly painted plaster sculptures. Inside the complex, you can find a marriage hall, bathing tank, the main inner sanctum and numerous smaller shrines.
Inside the Temple Part 2
by Canadienne
Bathing tanks, shrines, elephants. . .and the temple still has room for a corridor of stalls selling religious trinkets, puja offerings and other sundry items ~ it's called the Meenakshi Nayaka Mandapa.
Puja Offerings
by Canadienne
Offerings are an essential part of Hindu worship. During puja a devotee presents items that, according to tradition, the particular god or goddess likes: often flowers, special foods, grains, coconuts, incense or oils. The items of preference vary from region to region and can usually be purchased at stands or stalls near temples.
The puja offerings popular in Madurai included coconut, bananas, incense, coloured powder and small packets of ghee for covering the statues.
Tirumalai Nayak Palace
by cadzand
The palace of Tirumalai Nayak was constructed in 1523 and was originally four times as large as it is today.
The palace displays the architectural style of the Nayaks.
Tirumalai Naik palace is a gracious edifice built in the Indo-Saracenic style famous for the stucco-work on its domes and arches.
We were lucky here being able to visit the palace, as it had been closed for some time for restoration. Part of the entrance courtyard has already been restored and this is the result.
Madurai, Tamil Nadu
marriage
Detail work on one of the gopurams
Just a hundred or so meters from the great temple
