All the towers were built between 13th and 16th century. From 16th century onwards, Nayaks started ruling Madurai. Many of the further improvement were done by Nayaks. The temple is 258 meters in length and 240 meters in breath. Each tower faces East, West, North and South directions stand on outer walls.
Main entrance is on the eastern side.
Apart from this there are four small towers around Meenakshi's shrine and another four small towers around Sundareswara's shrine. The South tower is the tallest tower. It is 170 feet high. There are 1511 sculptural figures in this tower. The glorious view of city can be seen from the top of the south tower.