Meenakshi Temple, Madurai

Meenakshi Amman Temple is a historic Hindu temple located on the southern bank of the Vaigai River in the temple city of Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is dedicated to Parvati, known as Meenakshi, and her consort, Shiva, here named Sundareswarar.
The temple forms the heart and lifeline of the 2,500-year-old city.

Though the present structure was built between 1623 and 1655 CE. It is said that the temple was actually built in the 6th century BC by survivors of the Kumari Kandam.
It houses 14 gopurams (gateway towers), ranging from 45-50m in height. The tallest is the southern tower, 170 ft high and two golden sculptured vimanas, the shrines over the garbhagrihas (sanctums) of the main deities. The temple attracts 15,000 visitors a day, around 25,000 on Fridays and receives an annual revenue of 60 million.

There are an estimated 33,000 sculptures in the temple.It was on the list of top 30 nominees for the "New Seven Wonders of the World".

Meenakshi is an avatar of the Hindu goddess Parvati - the consort of Shiva, one of the few Hindu female deities to have a major temple devoted to her. The name "Minakshi" means fish-eyed and is derived from the words "mina" meaning fish and "aksi" meaning eyes.

The temple is surrounded by gopurams (gateway tower)- There are 14 gopuram the tallest of which, the famous southern tower, rises to over 170 ft.