Madurai

According to the 16th century Tamil text of Thiruvilaiyadal Puranam, king Malayadhwaja Pandya and his wife Kanchanamalai performed a yajna seeking a son to succeed the king. A daughter appeared out of the fire, who was three years old and had three breasts. When the parents prayed to Shiva, a divine voice advised them to bring up the child, and that she will lose the third breast when she meets her future husband. The girl grew up in the palace, and the king crowned her as his successor. When she finally met Shiva, who took the form of Sundareswarar, she took her true form of Meenakshi, an incarnation of Parvati. Meenakshi Tirukalyanam, the marriage of Meenakshi and Shiva was a grand event, with the attendance of various Hindu gods, and other celestial and living beings. According to religious scholar William P. Harman, the story may reflect the matrilineal traditions prevalent in South India during the time and the regional beliefs that "[spiritual] powers rest with the women", gods listen to their spouse, and that the fates of kingdoms rest with the women. He notes: According to historian Susan Bayly, the reverence for Meenakshi is a part of the Hindu goddess tradition that integrates with the Hindu society where the "woman is the lynchpin of the system" of social relationships. According to anthropologist Christopher Fuller, the wedding represents a symbolic paradigm for human marriages during the time.