As
the King was a great devotee of Lord Siva, he must have been pleased with this piece of
news Lord Siva appeared in a dream before him as Sundareswara. Drops of nectar fell on the
spot from Siva's matted hair. As the nectar is the sweetest of all sweets, the place was
called Madurai. It is generally seen that nature gives indication beforehand and he who
can read or decipher it correctly is a blessed soul. As Lord Siva desired to appear here
and be worshipped by all, the blessed soul of Kulasekhara, the Pandyan king could rightly
catch the divine indication of the dropping of nectar, and named the city as Madurai.
This place was full of Kadamba trees then
therefore, another name of Madurai is Kadambavana Kshetram. The stump of a
Kadamba tree is still preserved to give evidence of the pa The tree is surribunded by a
number of Naga figures (figures of snake which are daily worshipped by the women of the
place. It is a peculiarity of the South that, round all Sthala Vrikshas, there are figure
snakes, cut out of stone pieces, worshipped by the womenfolk everywhere.
It is also said that a serpent was seen on the spot and by its movements marked the
boundaries of the future township. The spot where the tail and the head of the coiled
serpent met became the sanctuary the holy temple. The Pandya king built the temple.
Gradually other temples were built for Sundareswara and his consort Meenakshi, keeping the
original temple as the nucleus. |
