As per the legend, Meenakshi was the daughter of the Pandya king Malayadhwaja Pandian and queen Kanchana Malai. The royal couple did not have a child for a long time, so Malayadhwaja Pandian performed special poojas and offered his prayers to God. During the pooja, a small girl came out of the fire and sat on the lap of the king. At that time, a divine voice from the sky told them that this child was an incarnation of Parvati (the wife of Shiva), and Shiva himself would come to marry her at the right age. Meenakshi was trained in warfare, and she was crowned as the queen of the Pandya kingdom after her father died. She conquered the whole world with her extraordinary war skills, and at last she went to Kailash (the abode of Shiva) to conquer it. When Meenakshi confronted Shiva in the battlefield, she fell in love with him and realized that she was a form of Parvati. Shiva assured Meenakshi that he would come to Madurai to marry her. As promised, Shiva, along with all the gods and the sages, came to Madurai. Shiva as Sundareshwar married Meenakshi and ruled the Pandya kingdom under the name Sundara Pandyan. Their temple stands at the centre of Madurai. The Meenakshi festival was originally a separate Shaiva celebration.
