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Lord Siva known as Somasundara at the Madurai temple and the consort of goddess of Meenakshi, the crown princess of the Pandya kingdom, had enacted several miracles to save His devotees when they were faced with unsurmountable problems or to make known to the world the depth of their devotion to the Lord. Madurai, a major city in Tamil Nadu today, was the ancient capital of the Pandya kingdom; and today it continues to be a major pilgrimage centre, known for the architectural features of the temple and the beautiful sculptures, which adorn the structure.

The most important 64 miracles of Lord Siva were written down in Tamil by Paranjothi Adigal as “Thiruvilayadal Puranam”. Paranjothi Adigal was an army chieftain of the Pallava emperors and later gave it up to devote his time in the service of Lord Siva and His devotees. This Puranam also includes the appearance by baby Tadatakai (Meenakshi) from the sacrificial fire and her valourous exploits until she met Lord Siva. Like any other ancient stories events these miracles have been retold any number of times by different writers. Now for the benefit of youngers and even older people, who may not be familiar with these stories, they have been rewritten in simple English by Mr. N. Raghavan and Ms Lakshmi Venkaraman and published by Kalakshetra Publications. The colourful illustrations are by artist ‘Subha’.