Meenakshi Sundareshwar

The Meenakshi marriage owes it’s name to the Goddess of Madurai, Meenakshi, a Pandyan princess who, having conquered the three realms, met Siva in the form of Sundareshwara in battle — and the pair fell in love and married. Sundareshwar comes to Madurai, to live in Meenakshi’s palace — and as a result this idea of marriage holds the woman to be more powerful, dominant over the man. Siva is the main deity of Chidambaram temple — and there is an interesting story that asserts his superiority over Parvati in the form of Kali. Legend has it that Parvathi and Shiva argued fiercely about who was more powerful — and to settle this dispute, agreed to a dance competition in Chidambaram (Thillai). Shiva, in the form of Nataraja, danced, and Parvathi, transforming into Kali, was able to match him move for move. On the verge of being defeated, Shiva performed a dance move that Kali could not replicate — he raised his leg above his head. Kali could not follow him — for to do so, to raise her leg above her head, would mean exposing herself in public. So Kali admitted defeat, and was banished to a temple on the outskirts of the town of Chidambharam, and Shiva was proclaimed the victor — superior to and more powerful than Parvathi. Interestingly, the idea of female shame, or public embarrassment, is tied to this idea of male dominance and power in this myth. The third model is the most equitable one — the idea of the “Ardhanari” marriage. In the form of Ardhanaishvara, Siva and Parvati fuse together in one body, balanced and equal, no side asserting dominance or control over the other — an ideal that favours of mutual authority, completion and union between the sexes.