This Mandapa is a convention in this temple, different from that followed in others, that the devotee offers worship first to Goddess Meenakshi. When the city was liberated, the sanctum was opened, and, tradition says the flower garlands and the sandalwood paste placed on the Linga were as fresh as on the first day, and two oil lamps were still burning. The temple authorities closed the sanctum, covered up the Linga, and set up another in the Ardhamandapa. In the same century Madurai was under Muslim rule for nearly fifty years. In the 14th century an invasion by Malik Kafur damaged the temple. Meanwhile Lord Shiva had instructed Pandya in a dream to build a temple and a city at the spot Dhananjaya would indicate. Thinking that it must be the work of the Devas, he told the Pandya, Kulasekhara, in Manavur, of this. When next morning he woke up, he was surprised to see signs of worship.
Once Dhananjaya, a merchant of Manavur, where the Pandyas had arrived after the second deluge in Kumari Kandam, having been overtaken by nightfall in Kadamba forest, spent the night in the Indra Vimana. The south gateway contains the twin temples of Shiva and Meenakshi and is about nine storeys high. The soaring and exquisitely carved towers enclose the temple dedicated to Meenakashi.
The gigantic temple complex, the statues exploring the entire range of human emotions, everything here is larger than life. According to legend Madurai is the actual site where the wedding between Shiva and Meenakshi took place. The Meenakshi temple complex is one of the largest and certainly one of the most ancient. At every turn there is superb sculpture, magnificent architecture. There are the two main shrines, no less than twelve Gopuras, a pool and innumerable Mandapas. The structures that are standing today date mostly from the twelfth to the eighteenth century. The Sri Meenakshi Sundareswara temple and Madurai City originated together. Legend has it that the divine nectar falling from Lord Shiva's locks gave the city its name - 'Madhurapuri', now known as "Madurai".
It has been a center of learning and pilgrimage, for centuries. The Pandyan king, Kulasekhara had built a gorgeous temple around which he created a lotus shaped city. This city is located on Vaigai River and was the capital of Pandyan rulers. Madurai or "the city of nectar" is the oldest and second largest city of Tamil Nadu.
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