Another interpretation is that the name is based on the belief that the fish never close their eyes: the goddess similarly never stops watching over her devotees.

[15] Yet another interpretation states that the name is based on the ancient belief that the fish feed their young by merely looking at them; the goddess supposedly supports her devotees by merely glancing at them.

[2] Several great hymns on the goddess were composed in the early modern period by many saints and scholars, including the famous Neelakanta Dikshita.

One Tamil poem/song (Tamilpillai) portrays Meenakshi as the intersection of domesticity and divinity:[20]The great Shiva with the metel flower / Wanders through the courtyard of space / Destroying your work again and again / And then he comes before you.

[21]The 13th century Tamil Shaiva text Tiruvilaiyadal Puranam mentions king Malayadhvaja Pandya and his wife Kanchanamalai, who performed a yajna seeking a son for an heir.

Shiva intervenes and informs the parents to treat her like a son, telling them that when she meets her husband, she would lose the third breast.

[citation needed] The temple complex in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India is dedicated to Meenakshi who is worshipped as the primary deity.

Its shrines are dedicated to Hindu deities and Shaivism scholars, with the vimanas above the garbhagrihas (sanctums) of Meenakshi and Sundareśvarar gilded with gold.

[36][37] The large temple complex is the most prominent landmark in Madurai and attracts tens of thousands visitors a day.