As per the legend, Meenakshi was the daughter of the
Pandya king
Malayadhvaja Pandyan and queen
Kanchana Malai. The royal couple did not have a child for a long time, so Malayadhvaja Pandyan performed special
pujas and offered his prayers seek a son. During the puja, a 3-year-old girl emerged from the fire and sat on the lap of the king, bearing three breasts. 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
Kailasha (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. Her third breast fell upon meeting him. 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 Sundareshvara married Meenakshi and ruled the Pandya kingdom under the name Sundara Pandyan.
Their temple stands at the centre of Madurai. The Aḻagar festival is associated with the
Vaishnava Kallaḻagar temple. Once, the sage Manduka was taking a bath in the holy waters of the
Agaya Gangai in
Aḻagar hills. At that time, the short tempered sage,
Durvasa, came by that way. Manduka missed his arrival, which Durvasa took as an insult and cursed Manduka to become a frog and live in the river Vaigai. On Manduka's beeseaching, Durvasa told him to go to Vaigai and pray to the Aḻagar form of
Vishnu to be released from the curse. Aḻagar was pleased by the prayers of Manduka, and went to the Vaigai river to lift the curse of Manduka. As per Manduka's wish, he showed him
all his ten avatars and blessed him. The wedding of Meenakshi with Sundareshvara was to happen in Madurai. Aḻagar, the brother of Meenakshi, was invited. He started on a 20 km journey from his abode at Aḻagar Hills towards Madurai. Aḻagar decided to travel disguised as a robber to protect himself and his belongings. At times, he had to hide to avoid getting arrested by soldiers. This, and the dense forest of Aḻagar Hills, delayed his journey further. This delay was purposely caused by Sundareshvara, and he himself took the form of Aḻagar and performed the
kanyadana (handing over a girl for marriage) of Meenakshi. This was enacted by Sundareshvara to prove that Vishnu and Shiva are one and the same. Later, when Aḻagar was crossing the
Vaigai river, he learned that his sister's wedding was over. This made him furious. To pacify him, Meenakshi and Sundareshvara came to the Vaigai river. Aḻagar chose to give all the gifts that he carried to Meenakshi and Sundareshvara in a
mandapa in the middle of the Vaigai river, and returned to Aḻagar Hills without entering Madurai. == History ==