Legends

According to the legends, Lord Siva came down to earth and married Meenakshi, the divine daughter of Malaydhwaja Pandian who ruled Madurai. During his stay in the material world, He performed sixty four wonders, which are known as 'Thiruvilaiyadals' or sacred games. These legends are a strange mixture of actual history and folklore. Hidden in the mists of hoary past, these stories give a stirring account of a faith as old as the earth itself, if not older. More recent miracles have a more solid base...in 1812, Rous Peter was the Collector of Madurai. He treated the people so kindly that he was called Peter Pandian by them. One night, there was heavy rain with lightening and thunder. Suddenly a small girl entered Peter's bedroom, woke him up and asked him to go out. As soon as he came out, lightning destroyed the room The girl disappeared. Peter believed that Sree Meenakshi had saved him. He presented a pair of golden stirrups, embedded with precious stones for use on the idol of Meenakshi when taken in procession.