Meenakshi Temple

This place is dedicated to Meenakshi and Sundareshvara. According to legend, Madurai is the place where they got married. It is one of the most popular pilgrimage sites to visit in the whole of Southern India. The original temple was built by Kulasekara Pandya, but it reached its peak during the dynasty of the Nayaks who ruled from the 16th to the 18th Century. It is rectangular, surrounded by high walls that are approximately 254x237 meters tall and the total area is about 60,000 m2. 60 priests live here (in an area which is prohibited to the public) to attend the temple. Inside there are lots of large rooms, besides the sacred pond which is surrounded by columns and wall paintings dating back to the 17th Century.