Madana Gopala Swami Temple - Madurai

Why is Madurai called the Temple City? Is it because of the vast temple of Meenakshi Sundareswara located at the city's center? Else, is it because of the hundreds of temples at every nook and corner across the city? Maybe, both are valid reasons to call this ancient city the Temple City.

The city, primarily associated with Lord Shiva and his consort, has some important temples of Lord Vishnu too. This article covers one such important Vaishnavite temple - Madana Gopala Temple. Madana Gopala means lovely cowherd - Krishna, the incarnation of Vishnu.

This temple is located at Melamasi Street, next to Immaiyilum Nanmai Tharuvaar Temple.

Legend

All temples in South India would have some associated legends. This temple, too, has few tales. They are not recorded in Tiruvilaiyadal Puranam or any authentic texts that talk about Madurai.

After Lord Shiva, as Sundaresa, married Meenakshi, he installed Shiv Linga (Immaiyilum Nanmai Tharuvaar) and went into deep meditation. The world could not bear the energy that emanated from Shiva due to his severe penance. As per the request from the Devas, Lord Krishna played music with his flute. The melodious music distracted Shiva from his penance, and thus the world was saved.

Another legend states that Andal halted here on her way to Sri Rangam and got darshan of Madanagopala.

History

The original temple might have been built during the Pandya period. However, there is no evidence for that. None of the icons or building structures that exist today belong to Pandyas. The current structure of the temple is believed to have been built in the middle of the 16th century CE by Madurai Nayakas.

Some stone inscriptions were found in this temple. They are recorded in South Indian Inscriptions Volume 23, with serial numbers from 502 to 511.

Most of the inscriptions found here do not belong to this temple. Few inscriptions talk about Tirutturutti Mahadeva of Pandiyur village. A few inscriptions, which could not be dated, are believed to be of Pandya Kings, based on the symbols and King names. An inscription dated 1536/37 CE mentions a Karnataka King, Tirumala I.

There is one interesting inscription dated 1597 CE. It mentions an order issued in the name of Goda (Andal), which is unique.

Philadelphia Museum of Art

Strangely, the mandapa that stood in front of the main shrine once is found in the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the USA.

According to the information on the Museum website, an American lady, Adeline Pepper Gibson, visited Madurai in 1912 CE. The pillars, which were part of a mandapa initially, were dismantled and were reportedly lying on the ground on the temple premises. All those pillars, which were about 60 in number, were purchased by that lady and were exported to Philadelphia.

The pillars were given to the Museum in 1938. The museum staff has assembled all the pillars and slabs. Thus the entire structure, which is rebuilt, looks like the original mandapa. All these pillars have life-size images of various Hindu deities, such as Garuda and Hanuman. There are many small bas-relief images found on the slabs. They depict baby Krishna, a royal couple, a couple making love, and so on.

Temple Layout

Temple Entrance

The temple entrance is west facing. It has a five-tiered tower.

Madana Gopala

The west-facing sanctum enshrines a more than 5 feet tall beautiful idol of Madana Gopala. He is found in the standing posture. He has four arms. His upper arms hold conch and discus. His lower arms play the flute. His consorts, Rukmini and Satyabhama, are found on either side.

Deivika Vasudevan

The processional deity of the temple is named Deivika Vasudevan. He is found in the standing posture; he has four arms and holds conch and discus in his upper arms; his two consorts are found along with him. The above-mentioned utsava icons and the utsava image of Madanavalli are found in the sanctum.

Mandapas

The temple has Ardha Mandapa, Maha Mandapa and Mukha Mandapa. The Maha Mandapa and Mukha Mandapa have old pillars with lions on the upper side and very big Yazhis in the center. Two dwarapalas are found at the entrance of the Ardha Mandapa.

In Maha Mandapa, the stone images of Vishwaksena, Vennai Thazhi Krishnan, and Navaneetha Krishna are found. Both the Krishnas' idols are big in size. Vennai Thazhi Krishna is an infant Krishna who holds a pot containing butter; it is rare to find Krishna in this posture.

The Mukha Mandapa is much bigger and more beautiful. The pillars have many attractive sculptures. The sub-shrines of Chakrathalwar with Yoga Narasimha on the back side, Lakshmi Narasimha, Rama-Sita-Lakshmana with Bhakta Anjaneya, Panchamukha Anjaneya and Sanjeevi Anjaneya are found in this mandapa.

Vimana

The vimana of the sanctum is Ashtanga vimana, which is not usual.

Garuda, bali peetha, and the flagstaff are situated in the direction facing towards the sanctum.

Madanavalli and Andal

On the prakara, the shrines of Madanavalli and Andal are found. Each shrine has its own prakara and mandapa. The mandaps have beautiful sculptures, big Yazhis, and lions protruding on top.

Madanavalli is found seated and has four arms. It is the typical iconography of Maha Lakshmi in Vishnu temples.

Andal sports a hair bun on the left side and holds a parrot. She is in a standing posture. It is also of the typical iconography.

Other Shrines

Gaja Lakshmi's sub-shrine is found on the back side of the sanctum. It is not usually found in other temples.

There is a holy peepul tree where an image of Ganesha and Nagas are found. Along with Ganesha, the images of Saraswati and Rama Siddhar are also found under the tree. A small sub-shrine for the stucco image of Saraswati is also found nearby.

Navagrahas are found in this temple. It is rare to find Navagrahas in the Vishnu temple. But many of the ancient Vishnu temples of the Madurai region have Navagrahas similar to this temple.

The walls around the main shrine have many beautiful bas-relief images that depict various scenes from Ramayana.

Happy travelling.

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