(iv) The last
variety of idols were those installed by men. Such men had communion with God. For
instance Lakshmi was born as the daughter of Akasaraja and she was given in marriage to
Vishnu in the form of Venkatesa. In Madurai, Parvati in the name of
Meenakshi was born as daughter of King Malayadhwaja Pandya and was given in marriage to
Sundareswarar. There are 274 Saivite holy places,
which have been mentioned in the Thevaram -Thiruvachakam of the four famous Nayanmars,
Appar, Sundarar, Sambandar and Manickavachakar. Similarly for Vaishnavites, there are 108
sacred places dedicated to Vishnu. The 12 Azhwars of Vaishnavism and 63 Nayanmars; of
Saivism made image worship very much pronounced in South India. The subsequent preachers
like Sankara, Ramanuja and their successors, continued the work. Our ancestors have left a
vast wealth of temples and legends to us. Let us look at it with pride and after it with
care and devotion.
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