MADURAI TRAVEL GUIDE

At a distance of 2 Km from Madurai Junction Railway Station, the historic Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple, also called as Meenakshi Amman Temple, is one of the biggest and most popular pilgrimage sites in India. Dedicated to Goddess Parvati and Lord Siva, the temple is considered an architecture marvel. It was shortlisted as one of the top 30 nominees for New Seven Wonders of the World. It is one of the the prime places to visit in Madurai.

The Madurai Temple forms the heart and lifeline of Madurai city which is 2,500 year old. The original temple was built by Kulashekara Pandya, but the initiative to rebuild the structure was taken by first Nayak king of Madurai, Viswanatha Nayak (1559-1600) under the supervision of Ariyanatha Mudaliar. The temple was substantially expanded to the current structure during the reign of Thirumalai Nayak between 1623 and 1655 CE by the Nayak rulers. The credit for making the temple as splendid as it is .....

At a distance of 1 km from Madurai Junction Railway Station & 1.5 km Meenakshi Temple, The Koodal Alagar Temple, also known as Arulmigu Koodalazhagar Thirukoil, is another important temple in Madurai. Dedicated to Lord Vishnu, this temple is believed to be older than the Meenakshi temple. It is one of the important places to visit in Madurai.

A unique feature of this temple is the three different postures of the same God. The three figures of Vishnu are in standing, sitting and reclining postures. These three figures of the deity are known by three different names. The most venerated of the three figures is Lord Vishnu in the seated posture. The seated Lord Vishnu is locally known as Lord Koodal Alagar from whom the temple derives its name. The reclining idol is known as Sri Ranganatha. Sri Surya Narayan Perumal is the name for the standing image of Lord Vishnu.

This temple possesses wonderful architecture and artwork. Adorned with a temple tower followed by the main shrine .....

At a distance of 3 km from Madurai Junction Railway Station and 1 km from Meenakshi Temple, Thirumalai Nayak Mahal is a palace complex constructed in the Indo-Saracen style by Thirumalai Nayak in 1636. It is among the major Madurai tourist places.

The original palace complex was four times bigger than the present structure. It was divided into two parts, Swargavilasa and Rangavilasa and only the Swargavilasa is survived today. The palace was designed by an Italian architect. The ceilings are decorated with large paintings showing Shaivite and Vaishnavite themes. The Darbar hall (courtyard) and the Natakasala (dancing hall) are carry the original glory and are central attractions for visitors. There are 248 pillars, each 58 feet tall and 5 feet in diameter. It is believed that the Rangavilasa portion of the palace was demolished by Chockanatha Nayak, the grandson of Thirumalai Nayak and the materials were carried to Trichy to build a new palace.

The most remarkable part of this .....

At a distance of 8 km from Madurai Junction Railway Station, Thiruparankundram Temple, also known as Tirupparamkunram Murugan Kovil is renowned for its 8th century rock cut cave temple dedicated to Lord Murugan (Subrahmanya). It is one of the major sacred places to visit in Madurai.

Tirupparankundram Temple is one of the six abodes of Murugan and considered as the first and foremost temple of Lord Muruga. Several myths and legends are associated with this temple and one of them says that it is at this place that the Lord Muruga defeated the demon Surapadman and got married to Deivayani, daughter of the king of heaven, Indra and worshipped Lord Shiva.

The main shrine is an early rock cut temple which has cells that house the sanctums of Subramanya, Durga, Vinayakar, Shiva and Vishnu. There are several mandapas in this temple known as Kambathadi Mandapam, Ardha Mandapam, and Mahamandapam situated at different levels connected by steps. There are several architectural features .....

At a distance of 21 km north-east of Madurai, Alagar Koil is a beautiful temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu situated on a picturesque wooded hill. It is one of the major temples in Tamilnadu and an important pilgrimage site near Madurai city.

The temple is the abode of Lord Vishnu and is the sacred place for several followers of Lord Vishnu in the region. It is situated in the Alagar hills and is also known as Azhagar Kovil. Here 'Vishnu' presides as Meenakshi's brother 'Azhagar'. The statue of the lord is made of stone and is a great masterpiece created from kallalgar. Several different statues in different postures of the Lord are all kept in the temple under the same roof and it is the best form of distinct temples in southern India.

The impressive main tower at the entrance is believed to have been built by the Pandyan Kings. Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan (1251-1270 AD) has beautified the 'vimana' with gold plates. Later, during the reign .....

At a distance of 4 Kms from Madurai Junction Railway Station, Gandhi Museum is a great master piece in Southern India and it has great historical background and mythology in its background.

The museum is square in shape and created at the height of 5 metres from the ground level and it has a wonderful dome in the centre which is about 7 metres diagonally. It was constructed by Nayak Queen Rani in the earlier 1700 AD. Great cost was incurred in establishing the museum and it was all invested by the government of India, in memory of Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation.

Timings: 10 AM to 1 PM & 2 PM to 5:30 PM

At a distance of 5 Kms from Madurai Junction Railway Station (on NH 49, towards the banks of Vaigai river), Vandiyur Mariamman Temple is built in the memory of Lord Vigneshwara. It is a popular temples near Madurai city.

It has a huge tank in the compound of the temple and is the biggest tank in the region of Tamil Nadu. The tank is filled with water all year long and the idol of the temple too was obtained from the bottom of the tank, while it was dug in the olden times and hence the temple was constructed at that place itself. So the tank gained its popularity since then and the temple too was constructed in its memory.

Float festival is conducted in the month of Jan/Feb in the tank in a colourful way, which attracts thousands of tourists.

Timings: 8 AM to 7 PM

At a distance of 12 kms from Madurai, Narasingam is famous for the Cave temple of Yoga Narasinga Perumal constructed in 770 AD by Madurakavi who was the minister of the Madurai King Paraanthaka Nedunchelzyan. The sculpture of Narasinga Perumal is carved out of the Aanaimalai Hill rocks. This temple is a good example of the cave sculpturing of the Pandya Kingdom. In front of this there is a stone temple for the goddess Sri Narasingavalli.

To the west of Narasinga Perumal temple, there is another cave temple constructed in 8th century AD by Pandia King. In this temple the deity Muruga and the goddess Devasena are seen. On the outer wall of this temple the sculptures of the cock and peacocks are formed beautifully.

At a distance of 23 kms north-east of Madurai (4 Kms from Alagar Koil), Pazhamudhir Solai is a beautiful temple created in the memory of Lord Subramaniya who is worshipped by several people in southern India. It has great sculptures of lord subramaniya encarved in wood and marble and is a wonderful temple with giant steps in the front of it.

People worship the temple by moving across the periphery of the temple a several number of times, with the hope that their wish would come true. It is the giant temple of Lord subhramaniya in southern India and one of the most beautiful too. It is located on the hills of Alagar koil.

Timings: Not Available.

At a distance of 70 Kms from Madurai, Vaigai Dam is a giant dam constructed on the river Vaigai and is situated near Andipatti.

The dam has been the life line of the agricultural lands in the neighbourhood and because of it the areas have flourished in leaps and bounds. It provides clean and fresh drinking water to whole of the region of Madurai and Andipatti. Agricultural research institution too has been developed near the dam so as to research on a wide variety of crops including cereals and pulses.