Meenakshi sametha Sundhareswarar Temple, Kariapatti
kariapatti is a very small town / big village on the madurai – aruppukottai – thoothukkudi route. it is 32 kms from madhurai and 21 kms from aruppukkottai , the nearest town.
kariapatti houses a meenakshi sundhareswarar temple which may not be very old like the ones sung in thevaram , thiruvasagam or other earlier hymns but offers a quaint setting to worship the lord.
the name meenakshi sundhareswarar comes from the much more famous counterpart in madurai as it happens to newer temples in villages / town surrounding such major centers. the shiva temple in andipatti , thirumangalam , melur , aruppukottai and many more towns in the perimeter or madurai have the aforementioned name for the goddess and god.
priest comes in the morning and evening and usual functions are celebrated in a nice manner.
the temple is on the road from kariapatti to aruppukkottai. thanks to the highway and the bypass circumventing kariapatti , not much traffic is on this road. town buses and local mofussil buses from madurai to arupukkootai enter kariapatti but the rest bypass it. town buses ply from virudhunagar as well which is the district headquarters.
to quote wikipedia “the place was very popular for the donkey market. hence, it was called as kazhudhaipatti (kazhudhai – donkey, patti – small town). it had been also called as ‘khadhiyarpatti’ as there was a temple priest named kadhiyaar. the place was further famous for a snack kaara sevu, as the reason the place was also called as kaarapatti. then this became kariapatti in over time“.
whether the priest is available or not , the god and goddess can be seen thru the grill gate. when you travel around the vicinity , why not swing by and enjoy some karasevu and divinity ! also this happens to be the shortest route to thiruchuri further to the south which is the birthplace of ramana maharishi and also a thevara padal petra thalam. aruppukottai has 2 beautiful shivan temples as well
