Meenakshi

Why Meenakshi is special
The Meenakshi Hindu Temple in Madurai, India is renowned for its skyscraping gopurams (photo shows one of them). They are elaborately carved gateways.

Meenakshi tips & insights
Centuries old
The Meenakshi Gopurams were erected in the 13th to 16th Centuries.

Height
They reach as high as 50 meters (165 feet).

Adornments
The Meenakshi Gopurams are abundantly decorated from base to roof with flamboyantly colored god and animal sculptures of fanciful design.

Gates
The four main gopurams serve as entrance gates to the walled Meenakshi Temple.

Area
The overall temple is as large as a dozen football fields.

Main hall
This immense Dravidian-style temple contains the enormous Hall of a Thousand Pillars (actually "only" 985, but they're all wonderfully sculptured).

Other features
Meenakshi Temple also houses a myriad of fascinating small temples and corridors that are fun to discover on your own. Surprises await your every turn.

Location in India