MADURAI CITY

The story descripted on the stones is as follows:

Malayadwaja Pandya, a king of Madurai , was childless for a long time. He performed a number

of yagnas (sacrifices made before a sacred fire) because he wanted an heir to his throne. On one occasion, a

three-year-old girl came out of the fire and Malayadwaja adopted her. But the girl had three breasts and this

worried Malayadwaja. However, a divine voice assured him that the third breast would disappear as soon as

she met her consort. The girl grew into a brave and beautiful princess. she won many battles, but eventually

lost her heart to Lord Shiva, when she met him on the battle-field in Kailas. As soon as she saw him, her

third breast disappeared and she recognized her divine consort, for the princess was none other than Shiva's

wife, Parvathi. After ruling over the Pandya kingdom for a while, they settled in the Madurai temple

as Meenakshi andSundareswarar.

There are 12 temple towers(Gopurams). The outer 4 towers are the landmarks of Madurai. They are:

East Tower (Nine Storeys). Height 161'3" has 1011 sudhai figures.

South Tower (Nine Storeys). Height 170'6“ has 1511 sudhai figures.

West Tower (Nine Storeys). Height 163'3" has 1124 sudhai figures.

North Tower (Nine Storeys). Height 160'6“ has lesser figures of sudhai than other outer towers.