Madurai Tourist Places - Temples, Palaces, Museum, Monuments
If your intention is to visit a place of rich history and a busy present with great temples that boast the architectural brilliance of the artisans, then Madurai should be in your itinerary. The 2500 plus years old city is located on the banks of the Vaigai river. As per the legends, Madurai was originally a forest known as ‘Kadambavanam’. One day, a farmer named Dhananjaya was passing through this forest. He saw Indra (The king of the gods), worshipping a self created Shiva lingam under a kadamba tree. Immediately, he transferred this information to the ruler Kulasekara Pandya, since Indra is a divine soul.
The king instantly ordered the people to clear the region and built a temple where the lingam was worshipped. On the consecration of the temple, Lord Shiva is said to have appeared and dropped nectar from his hair. So, the king named this place ‘Madurai’ (madhuram meaning ‘sweetness’ in Tamil). Madurai has a rich historical background in the sense that lord Shiva himself performed sixty four wonders called ‘Thiruvilayadal’. On the European side, Megasthenes visited Madurai as early as the 3rd century BC. Later, many people from Rome and Greece visited here to have a trade link with the Pandya kings. Madurai flourished till 10th century AD when it was conquered by Cholas, the arch rivals of the Pandyas.
The Cholas ruled Madurai from 920 AD till the 12th century. In 1223 AD, Pandyas regained their lost kingdom and continued their dominance. Pandian Kings patronised Tamil language in a great way with many masterpieces in literature being created. One of the examples is that ‘Silapathikaram’, the great epic was written based on the story of ‘Kannagi’ who burnt Madurai as a result of the injustice caused to her husband. In 1311, Malik Kafur, the chieftain of Delhi Sultanate Alauddin Khilji, came to know about the wealth of Madurai and robbed the city, which led to the subsequent raids by other Muslim Sultans. In 1323, the Pandya kingdom including Madurai became a province of the Delhi empire, under the Tughlaqs. In 1371, the Vijayanagar dynasty of Hampi captured Madurai to integrate with their empire.
Kings of this dynasty had the habit of leaving the captured land to governors called ‘Nayaks’. The Nayaks paid fixed amounts annually to the Vijayanagar empire. After the death of Krishnadevaraya in 1530 AD, the Vijayanagar empire lost its sheen leading the Nayaks to become independent and ruled the territories under their control. Among Nayaks, Thirumalai Nayak (1623-1659) was very popular as he was the person to construct magnificent structures in and around Madurai. Madurai started slipping into the hands of the British East India Company like every other region in India. The city is often referred to as the ‘Athens of the East’ because of its similar architectural style, including many alleyways. Much like Varanasi in the North, Madurai is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in India.