HISTORY OF MADURAI

Athens is considered to be one of the oldest cities in the world. It is said that Athens in Greece is
inhabited continuously for over three thousand years from first BC. Madurai, a city in the southern part of
India, in the state of Tamil Nadu is also a city in existence from the pre Christian era. In 3rd B.C
Megasthanese visited Madurai.It was followed by visits of many Romans and Greeks. They established
flourishing trades with the then Pandya Kings of Madurai.So it will only be apt to call Madurai, the Athens of
East.Madurai is situated on the right banks of river vaigai.The city is surrounded by three small hills.A hill
having resemblance to an elephant is called the elephant hill( Anamalai in Tamil) The other two hills resemble
a cow and snake . They are known as cow hill (Pasu malai in Tamil) and snake hill (naga malai in Tamil).
The golden age of Tamil literature is known as 'The Sangam Age'. Tamil Sangam means an Academy
of Tamil learning.All the master pieces of Tamil literature were produced in the pre christian era.One of the
most ancient Hindu temples of India is situated in Madurai. The Madurai Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple
is in the centre of the city . The city of Madurai is built around this temple. The presiding dieties are Lord
Shiva and Goddess Parvathy . Lord Shiva in Madurai is known as Sundareswarar and Goddess Parvathy is
known as Meenakshi. The legend says Lord Shiva married Goddess Meenakshi at Madurai.Rectangular
streets surround the temple symbolizing the cosmos.
Till the 10th century AD Madurai was ruled by the Pandya Kings.The Chola kings captured Madurai
thereafter.They ruled Madurai till the 13th century.In 1223 AD Pandya kings regained their kingdom .They
promoted and patronised Tamil language.In 1311 Malik kafur,general of the Delhi ruler raids Madurai to rob
the treasures such as precious stones,jems and jewels.Other Muslim Sultans also raid Madurai there after.In
1323 Madurai and the Pandyan Kingdom comes under the rule of Thuglak of Delhi.In 1371 vijaynagar
dynasty of Hampi (now in Karnataka state)captures Madurai. On behalf of Vijayanagar empire the Nayaks
ruled Madurai.The Nayaks paid an annual amount to vijaynagar empire.In 1530 AD Nayaks became
independent and controlled the areas under their rule.Tirumalai Nayak (1623-1659) renovated the Meenakshi
Amman temple.Madurai was also ruled by a queen called Rani Mangammal.She ruled Madurai for about 18
years to the close of the 17th century.Queen Mangammal was known for her great sagacity.She was the
daughter of Lingama Nayak,general of Chokkanatha Nayak,who ruled Madurai from 1659 to 1682.Madurai
later comes under the Britisher's East India Company.In 1781 British appoints the first collector for
Madurai.In independent India Madurai is a major distirct in the state of Tamil Nadu in southern India.
Madurai is also the second largest city in the state of Tamilnadu after Chennai.

MADURAI MEENAKSHI TEMPLE

Today Madurai is known for the great Meenakshi temple,monuments,ancient cultural wonders and its
jasmine flowers.The Menakshi temple is a great architectural marvel . Meenakshi temple ranked 26th in the
list of nominees of the new seven wonders of the world.The present temple was built by the Pandya King
Kulasekaran.Later the temple was reconstructed by Tirumala Nayak.Madurai Meenakshi temple is the perfect
example of the dravidan temple architecture.The temple complex covers six hectares right in the centre of the
city.Thousand pillar hall of the temple houses the temple museum. Thousand pillar hall is actually a
misnormer. The hall has only 985 pillars.The temple museum in the thousand pillar hall is sprawling and
grand.It is a trasure trove of Indian culture and civilisation. The temple has four imposing outer towers and
eight small towers . The south tower is the tallest of all the towers.This tower has over 1500 sculptures.There
are about 33 million carvings in this temple.This is one of the biggest temple complexes of India. The temple
is about 258 meters in length and about 241.4 meters in breadth.
REVIEWS

Madurai is situated on the banks of river Vaigai. It is located on southern parts of India. The city
surrounded by three mountains called Nagamalai (Snake mountain), Yanai malai (Elephant Mountain),
Pasumalai (Cow mountain). Madurai city is one of the oldest cities in India. The city is having the history of
more than 2500 years. In early 3rd century B.C. Megasthanes visited the city. Later trade between Madurai
and Athens and Rome began. Megasthanes called Madurai as “Athens of the East”. Madurai was used as a
trade city in olden days. Madurai was ruled by Pandiyas, Cholas and later by Nayaks and then it was ruled by
British people. After independence of India the city comes under the state of Tamilnadu. Now Madurai is the
second largest city in Tamilnadu.
Madurai City is also called as Temple City because so many temples are placed here. Madurai
Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple is located at the center of the city. Some other important temples are
Mariamman Kovil, Koodal Alagar Perumal Kovil, Thirupparamkundram, etc. Alagar Kovil is another
important temple in Madurai placed 20 kms away from the city.
The city is a well-structured city. Around Meenakshi Amman temple the streets are placed in square
structured model. The streets are Chitirai streets; Aadi streets, Avani streets and Veli Street are placed in all
North, East, South, and West directions. There are some other streets specifically for a particular trade such as
Pookara Street (particularly for flowers trade) and NagaiKadai street (particularly for Jewellery trade),
Valayalkara Street (particularly for Bangles trade), etc.
The city is having the area of 22 square kilometers and having the population around 11 lakhs. The
main language in Madurai is Tamil. The city is famous for its pure Tamil and slang and also for Tamil culture.
The city is also famous for Jasmine. The flowers are exported to some other cities in India and even to abroad.
Chitirai festival is one of the major festivals celebrated by the people of Madurai. In that festival two
important functions are Sri Meenakshi-Sundareswarar Marriage and Alagar festival.