Kambathadi Mandapam-2(Sree Meenakshi Temple)

Kambathadi Mandapam--2(Sree Meenakshi Temple)

On the fifth,chakradharar (the Lord having wheel in his arm),Rishabaroodar (the lord riding the bull)Ardhanareeswarar (the Lord with a woman's form on half the body ie.,half image is masculine and the other half faminine,with appropriate naments for adorning each half ).Siva is represented having a male earring in the right lobe and a female earring in the left.The conception is that both purusha and prakriti are necessary for creation.

Near to this pillar there is another depicting and image of Siva called Harihara Sankaranarayana.God's left half is Vishnu  and the right half Siva .Accordingly on the left side we see the conch,pearl necklace and other vaishnavite marks and the brilliant carvings of the features of Vishnu.On the right are the snake and other marks of  Siva .The moral is the oneness of both Hari and Hara and sunthesis between Vaishnavism and Saivism.

The figures of Jalandra Anugrahar (God of Grace) and Dakshinamurti is a very important shrine in every siva temple .The deity always faces the south.It is a yogic pose of Lord Siva himself as Dakshinamurti.Siva  is a Guru of yoga,music and other sciences.The teacher to say that Siva married sakti,the daughter of King Daksha .During an elaborate yagna performed by  Daksha he did not invite his daughter and son in law ie.,Sakthi and Siva ,Sakthi took it to heart and went to yagna though uninvited Her father took me notice of her  and did not show to her customary signs of welcome.Feeling insulted she threw herself into the sacrificial fire and burnt herself away.A t this siva become furious and brought out Veerabadra from his matted hair and got Daksha killed  after this Siva promised not to marry again and went into the forest.Where he engaged himself in deed meditation  beneath a banyan tree.The Yogi pose of meditation of Siva is worshipped as Dakshinamurthi.The artitic featuring of siva in meditation is superb that one feels that one's ego has vanished for time being.Here lies the beauty of sculpture which helps meditation by the devotee by a realistic symbol are on the sixth pillar.

Gajahara murti is shown in another pillar .The elephant was a demon sent by sages of daruka forest of kill Siva for seducing their wives as Bikshadanar.Siva killed the elephant and opened its ear and Lord Siva garlanding Chandeeswarar are seen on the seventh pillar.On the eighth pillar are engraved the figures of Bikhadanar,Rudhrar,Kirasha,Archunar and Somaskandhar.

Apart from these ,the ten Vishnu Avatars (births of lord Vishnu)are engraved at the bottom of some pillars .In another pillar engraved a figure of depicting that Siva as labourer to help an old lady who sold rice cakes when the floods on the river Vaigai.

These pillars surrounded the Nandi Mandapam.The deftness of the architect is lavishly displayed in installing the Mandapam .It is note worthy that the top stone on the four pillar is a single piece.

On the eastern side of the Kambathadi Mandapam ,the commanding figures of Agni Veerabadrar and Agora Veerabadrar are seen on two pillars in the northern portion .On the other two pillars in the northern portion,Oorthava Thandavar (Dancing Lord Siva )and Badra kali(the angered Goddess Parvathi)their skill and power.Each is animated by a sense of Motion and rhythm and their numerous limbs and eloborate ornaments and attributes make them probably the greatest triumph of technical skill in stone cutting to be found within the temple walls''The most remarkable of these figures is that of Siva in the form of Sabhapathi exhibiting a rare type of dance which is referred to as Urdhava Thandava and represents the god with his right leg raised straight up so as to reach the top of his ear.

Siva as Siddhar giving sugarcane to the stone elephant as puddu mandapam.

Siva appearing as a Prophet and performing a series of meaningles miracles in Madurai.On hearing the Pandya king sent messengers to bring before him,He refused his orders.There upon the king himself went out to look for the illustrious stranger king asked his name .The God said Agntya Siddha which means the omniponent spirit and the king then asked him sarcastically ,If he could make a stone elephant which stood hard by eat sugarcane and stretched out a piece of cane towards the life less figure .To his amazement the stone elephant lifted its trunk and advancing towards him with fierce gesturestore from off his necklace of pearl and swallowed it together with sugarcane.Seeing the King's attendants made a rush at the prophet ,with the object of chasing himfor his violence but he looked at them in peculiar manner and they the immediately became powerless.The king then perceived that the God was amusing himself at Siva's feet and implored forgiveness.

Infront of the entrance to the Swami temple,on the southern side ,the idol of Anugraha Vinayagar and on the north is that of Palaniandavar.