The Meenakshi Amman Temple is the heart of the ancient city of Madurai in Tamil Nadu, India. A religious and mythological symbol dating back 2,500 years, the temple’s 14 towers are each covered in thousands of colorful stone figures depicting animals, gods and demons. This sacred site draws in upwards of one million visitors each year for the 10-day Chithirai Festival to celebrate the marriage of Meenakshi (the Hindu Goddess Parvati) to Sundareswara (the Hindu God Shiva) — a divine marriage believed by Hindus to be the “biggest event on Earth.” According to ancient Tamil literature, the Meenakshi Amman Temple was originally built 2,500 years ago by survivors of the lost continent Kumari Kandam, a mythological triangle-shaped continent that was said to span the Indian Ocean, touching Australia, Madagascar and India. Although this continent’s existence is currently disproven, members of the Tamil Renaissance Movement once believed it to be the hearth of Tamil culture.

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