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About Madurai Tourism

                     
Madurai, also called the Temple City, is located in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is also one of the oldest inhabited cities of India. Apart from the Temple City, a few other names for the city are the ‘City of Four Junctions’, ‘City of Festivals’, ‘Athens of the East’ and ‘Sleepless City’, all pointing to one or other aspect of Madurai.

The name Madurai is supposed to have originated from the word ‘Madhura’ in Sanskrit, which means ‘sweetness’. The history of Madurai dates as far back as the 3rd century BC. The city finds mention in the works of Megasthenese as well as Arthashastra by Kautilya. Madurai was ruled by the Kalabhras until the 6th century, after which, it was subsequently ruled by many other dynasties, viz. the Pandyas, Cholas and Nayaks.

The British took control of Madurai in 1801, and it was then that it was made a part of the Madras Presidency. Madurai holds significance in India’s independence struggle as well. The city was home to leaders like NMR Subaraman, Mohammad Ismail Sahib and Meer Ibrahim Sahib. It was Madurai where Mahatma Gandhi decided to wear the loin cloth and shunned trousers as he was inspired by the agricultural labourers here.

Madurai is known to have a mix of cultures and religion, which is evident from the presence of many religious structures belonging Hinduism, Islam and Christianity. Some of the important religious structures of Madurai, which also serve as tourist places, are Goripalayam Dargah, Meenakshi-Sundreswar Temple and St. Mary’s Cathedral Church. Gandhi Museum is another tourist attraction of Madurai.

The Chithirai Festival, which will be celebrated in Madurai from April 22 to May 4, 2012, is a major tourist attraction. Organised every year at the Meenakshi Temple, the important facets of the celebrations include the coronation of Goddess Meenakshi; a wedding marked by rituals between the deities and the Chariot Festival. According to mythology, Lord Vishnu came to Madurai to attend the wedding of his sister, Goddess Meenakshi. But as he was late, he missed the wedding and became extremely angry, which is why he went back home. This legend has resulted in a grand procession that marks the end of the festivities where Lord Kallazhaga, an avatar of Lord Vishnu, is carried back to the temple.

Madurai has come to be called the ‘sleepless city’ because of its 24x7 work culture. There are plenty of food joints here, which remain open 24 hours, along with the transport, which is operational late at night.

The city is well connected to other parts of the country. It has an airport, a railway station and a reliable public transport system, which commuters can use for intercity as well as intracity travel. Being a major city, Madurai is well connected domestically by air, road and rail transport. The Madurai airport is at a distance of 10 km from the city centre.  Taxis are available from the airport. The nearest international airport is in Chennai.

It is also well connected by rail including major cities like Mumbai, Kolkata, Mysore, Coimbatore, Chennai and others. By bus, it is connected to several cities within the state as well as neighbouring states. Frequent services are available to Chennai, Coimbatore, Bangalore, Thiruvananthapuram etc. Services are provided by the TSRTC as well as private operators.

Lying at an elevation of 101 m above sea level, Madurai experiences a hot and dry weather throughout the year. The day temperature during the summer months hovers at about 40° Celsius while the same during the winters is between 20-25° Celsius. It is best to avoid visiting Madurai during the rainy season from June to August when the south-west monsoon hits the city. The best time to visit Madurai is from October to March.


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Reviews on Madurai
A place of godess Lakshmi
Ram,     Review date: 14th December 2011 0

Overview of the destination

Madurai is a very nice city and the places near by are also equally good like Kodai Kanal and Rameshwaram. If you visit to rameshwaram do not miss Dah..

Food, sight-seeing and shopping

Food is superb We enjoyed the food more than the place. Shopping of course is bit difficult. Peoples are very nice specially Travel Agents and Guide i..

Activities & things to do

One day Sata at Madurai, Next day go to Rameshwaram and one day for Kodaikanal...

Travel tips, How to reach, travel warnings etc

Its of your choice. Place is well conected with Chennai and any other part of India. But for all these near by places book a taxi. For Dhanush koti..
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Meenakshi temple!
janhavi,Aligarh     Review date: 19th November 2011 1
A crowded south Indian city but temple is nice. No language apart from Tamil is accepted in Madurai and other places in Tamil Nadu...
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Rural tourism
Ross,     Review date: 15th November 2011 2
Madurai has wonderful temples and palaces but its hinterland is rarely explored,and that's what we did, care of the Dhan Foundation, which assists vil..
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Tourist places in Madurai

Madurai is one of the largest cities in Tamil Nadu, located on the banks of River Vaigai. It is one of the ancient cities in the history of civilisation and is known to be the city of temples. Tourists and devotees throng this destination to visit numerous places of attraction including temples and museums.

Travellers can visit Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple, Koodal Azhagar Temple and Thiruparankundram Temple. These are some of the ancient temples in the destination that are famous for their religious importance and architecture.

Furthermore, Azhagar Koil and Pazhamudhir Solai temple over the hilltop and Goripalayam Dargah are some of the attractions visited by tourists. St. Mary’s Cathedral Church offers visual delight to travellers in terms of European and Continental style of architecture.

Thirumalai Nayakar Mahal is also visited by tourists for its historical past. Besides, the Gandhi Museum displays memorabilia of the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi. The museum exhibits facts about his life along with his blood stained dhoti and other items.

Traveller can also visit Vandiyur Kanmoy Tourist Complex that provides an opportunity to enjoy and relax. Some of the other prominent sightseeing attractions in the destination are Adhisyam, a water theme park and Rajaji Park.

Madurai Photos
Temple pics 0 Temple pics 1
Temple pics 2 Temple pics 3
Thirumalai Nayakkar Mahal 4 Temple pics 5
Explore Madurai 6 Explore Madurai 7
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This page was last modified on 14 Dec 2011