Devi Meenakshi is an Avatar of Goddess Parvati – the consort of who incarnated in the human body as the daughter of the Pandya king Malayadhvaja and his wife Kanchanamala who ruled the Panya Kingdom from Madurai 2000 years ago.

Earlier in the past life of Kanchamala, she had got a boon from Goddess Parvati to mother the latter. Goddess Parvati’s boon came true when king Malayadhvaja and his wife Kanchamamala performed the Putra Kameshti Yaga – the sacred fire ritual to have progeny. During this Yaga, Goddess Parvati emerged out of the sacred fire as a baby. The baby, to the royal couple’s shock, had three breasts. When they worried about that, at once an Ashariri Vak – a heavenly voice – was heard by them. The divine voice comforted them by telling that the baby is a divine girl and her third breast would vanish once the girl meets her fiancé. The gratified royal couple named the baby as Tadadagai – the one who emerged out of fire.

The girl Tadadagai being the heir to the Royal throne was meticulously trained in all the 64 arts explained in the scriptures. She excelled in each and every field inclusive of the martial arts. During auspicious time, Thadadagai’s Pattabhishekam coronation as the queen of the Pandya kingdom. As a queen when She had to prove Her supremacy, power and courage, She travelled in all the ten directions (inclusive of the Swarga and Patala) and very easily defeated and conquered all the worlds. Finally when she advance towards the Kailash, She effortlessly defeated the Bhutaganas – the army of Lord Shiva. She even defeated the chief of Bhutaganas, the Adhikara Nandi Deva – the divine bull vehicle of Lord Shiva – who stopped Her proceeding further. Her conquering of all the worlds is called the Dig Vijayam. This divine play of Her is called the Dig Vijayam.

Tadadagai finally headed towards Lord Shiva – who appeared as Lord Sundareshwara – with an intention to defeat Him and conquer Kailash, The moment She set Her eyes on Lord Sundareshwara, Her third breast got vanished. Unable to fight further, She bowed Her head down out of blush and realized that He was destined to be Her husband. She surrendered and realised that He is the embodiment of Enlightenment. By realizing this, She fell in love with Him and realized that She was an incarnation of Devi Parvati.

With this realization, the union of Shiva and Shakti happened and She expressed the power to enlighten people just by Her look. From then She was known as Meenakshi – the one with eyes like the eyes of fish. It is said that fish hatch their eggs just by looking at their eggs. Meenakshi came along with Lord Sundareshwara to Madurai and an unprecedented grand wedding ceremony was arranged by king Malayadhvaja. Lord Vishnu who is the brother of Devi Meenakshi was supposed to preside the marriage and give away His sister in marriage to Lord Sundareshwara. But Lord Vishnu from Vaikunta could not make it for the marriage. So the incarnation of Vishnu Pavalakkanivai Perumal from the suburbs of Madurai presided over the marriage and gave Her away in marriage to Lord Siva Himself. This marriage was attended by all the celestial beings and became one of the rarest and very important events of the Cosmos. This celestial marriage is called the Meenakshi Tirukkalayanam. Meenakshi Tirukkalyanam is the expression of the highest principle of the union of Shiva and Shakti.

When Lord Vishnu was coming to Madurai, He heard the news that the marriage of Meenakshi and Sundareshwara is over and so He started returning back to Vaikunta. On His way back to Vaikunta, He entered the river Vaigai which flows in the city of Madurai to liberate a frog and bestowed Enlightenment on it.

After their marriage, Meenakshi and Sundareshwara came around the Cosmos in a divine chariot to bless all beings in the Cosmos.
Meenakshi and Sundareshwara ruled the Cosmos from the south Indian city of Madurai for a long time, expressed so many mystical powers by performing miracles and established Dharma – the science of Enlightenment on the planet Earth