# Pudhu Mandapa of Tirumal Nayak (r. 1623–59), Minakshi Sundareshvara Temple, Madurai

- By: Captain Linnaeus Tripe (British, 1822–1902)
- Date: 1858
- Medium: albumen print
- Classification: Photograph
- Dimensions: Image: 35.7 x 27.3 cm (14 1/16 x 10 3/4 in.); Paper: 35.7 x 27.3 cm (14 1/16 x 10 3/4 in.); Mounted: 57.4 x 45.4 cm (22 5/8 x 17 7/8 in.)
- Culture: England, 19th century
- Credit line: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/2020.211)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2020.211/2020.211_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Kids profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

The temple complex that contains this open, pillared hall is dedicated to Minakshi, a form of Parvati, and her consort, Sundareshvara, a form of Shiva. The central column depicts Shiva feeding sugarcane to an elephant. Because Linnaeus Tripe respected the Hindu temples as places of religious, historical, and artistic value, he strove to document the carvings decorating the temples, even when they were hidden in shadow.