Shiva's stamp on a gate in Madurai

Shiva’s Stamp on a gate in Madurai Kulapoodana Pandyan was ruling the Pandya kingdom with Madurai as his capital. He was a good ruler with devotion to the holy couple of Madurai - Lord Sundareshwara and Mother Meenakshi. While good to his own citizens, Kulapoodana Pandyan was not very fond of the Chola king of the kingdom north of his land. The one thing common amongst these two rival kings was their complete devotion to Lord Shiva. The Chola king had a beautiful Shiva temple in Kanchipuram itself. Like many people who aspire for things just outside their reach, Kadu Vetti Cholan had a desire. He wanted to visit Madurai and offer prayers to the Lord there. This desire was triggered by two things. The first one was the fact that the Lord ruled Madurai as its king. In that respect it was equal to Kashi. The second reason was that Madurai was the famous Rajata Sabai or the Velliyambalam where the divine dancer Nataraja (Lord Shiva) performed the Sandhya Thandava. This desire t...