On the full moon in the lunar month of Magh (January–February), the city of Madurai in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu has a festival.
This is King Tirumalai Nayak's (r. 1623–1659) birthday, during whose reign substantial portions of Madurai's Minakshi Temple were constructed.
The goddess Minakshi and her consort Sundareshvara (a Shiva epithet) are transported in procession to an artificial lake east of Madurai, where they are placed on lavishly painted floats and dragged back and forth over the lake's waters.
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