Meenakshi

This is an exceptionally striking painting of Meenakshi embellished with gold leaf and coloured glass. The background of the painting has been restored at some point. Meenakshi, the fish-eyed goddess, is the tutelary deity of Madurai, who is known to be an avatar of Goddess Parvati. Meenakshi is a Tamil-Sanskrit term meaning ‘fish-eyed’, considered as a mark of beauty. The word is derived from mina, meaning fish and akshi meaning eyes. The lore of Meenakshi begins with King Malayadhwaja Pandya and his wife Kanchanamalai performing a yajna seeking a son for succession. Instead, a three-year-old girl, with fish-like eyes and three breasts appears from the fire. Lord Shiva guides the royal parents to raise her as a son, and reassures them that she will lose the third breast when she meets her destined consort. The warrior princess grows up to be crowned as Malayadhwaja Pandya’s successor. Upon meeting Shiva, in his form of Sundareswarar, she takes her true form as his divine consort, Meenakshi.