Mix-Mongrel Metaphors: With reference to the Visual Culture of Mīnākṣī-Sundareśvara Temple, Maturai R.K.K. Rajarajan Gandhigram Rural University, Gandhigram rkkrajarajan@yahoo.com ‘Mythical Hybrid Beings in Sculptural Art and Asian Region’ is a fascinating title for the literature and art researchers. The term hybrid, derived from the Latin hybrida, variant of ibrida ‘mongrel’, meaning ‘offspring of a domestic (tame) sow and a wild boar’. 1 Hybrid exists in all aspects, but the mythical hybrids are conceptually diverse in the beginning and changing through the course of time. The article will focus on ‘mix-mongrel metaphors’, through the literature and visual culture of the Tamils. The pan-Indian prototype Ardhanārīśvara ‘left-breasted’ icon is entirely different from that of the classical Greco-Roman Hermaphroditus, from the basic idea and form. Consequently, the south-Indian archetype Kaṇṇaki-Ardhanārī ‘right-breasted’ Cōla imagery is an offshoot of the Ardhanārīśvara. Subsequently, the Maturai ‘triple-breasted’ Taṭātakai-Mīnākṣī is a unique form in the evolution of visual culture. Kaṇṇaki-Ardhanārī and Taṭātakai-Mīnākṣī might have been a regional folk theme by origin and elevated to statuesque through the classical post- Caṅkam literature as appearing in Cilappatikāram, the bhakti hymns of Tēvāram and Tiruvācakam and a 10 th century literary compilation, called Kallāṭam. The Tiruviḷaiyāṭaṟ Purāṇam is the sthalamāhātmya of the Mīnākṣī-Sundareśvara temple at Madurai (Maturai according to the Tamil Lexicon, Anglicized Madura). It tells the sixty-four plus sacred sports (Tamil viḷaiyāṭal, Sanskrit līlā) of Lord Śiva in and around the city of Maturai. In fact, it deals with the legends of Maturai. The main aim is to see how and why these Tamil regional mix-mongrel hermaphrodites are different and unique in the study of visual culture. I would like to highlight the importance of local legends, as many scholars and visitors to the temple may not be aware of the regional sources that are vital to understand the festivals; and sculptural wealth of the temple as it may be found on the rāyagopuras, putumaṇḍapa, kiḷikkaṭṭumaṇḍapa, stucco images on the wall of the Sundareśvara shrine, wood-carved chariots