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 Indi India, a, in the the stat statee of Tami Tamill Nadu Nadu is also also a city city in exis existe tenc ncee from from the the pre pre Chri Christ stia ian n era. era. In 3rd 3rd B.C 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 .The city is surrounded by three small hills.A hill
having resemblance to an elephant elephan t is called the elephant hill( h ill( 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 h ill (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 Till the 10th century century AD Madura Maduraii was ruled by the Pandya Pandya Kings.Th Kings.Thee Chola Chola kings kings capture captured d Madura Maduraii thereafter thereafter.They .They ruled Madurai Madurai till the 13th century.In century.In 1223 AD Pandya kings regained regained their kingdom .They promoted and patronised Tamil language.In 1311 Malik kafur ,general ,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 Hampi (now in Karnataka state)captures Madurai. On behalf of Vijayanagar empire the Nayaks dynasty dynasty of Hampi
ruled ruled Madura Madurai.T i.The he Nayaks Nayaks paid paid an annual annual amount amount to vijayn vijaynaga agarr empire empire.In .In 1530 AD Nayaks Nayaks became 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 .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 daughter of Lingama Nayak,genera Nayak,generall of Chokkanatha Nayak,who ruled Madurai Madurai from 1659 to 1682.Madurai 1682.Madurai later later comes comes under under the Briti Britishe sher's r's East East India India Compan Company.I y.In n 1781 Briti British sh appoint appointss the first first collec collector tor 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 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), e tc. 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 an d 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.