Top attractions of madurai city is Sri Meenakshi Amman Temple which is dedicated to devi Meenakshi who is a form of devi parvati . It’s gates(Gopurams) are magnificent where different dancer , god , godess , animal’s sculpture are made . Rather than that the other attractions of madurai are Meenakshi Thirumalai Nayakkar Palace , Gandhi Memorial Museum ,
Koodal Azhagar Temple , Kazimar Big Mosque , Vaigai Dam and Jasmine Flower Markets . according to the tamil literature this city is 3000 years old . one of the oldest in southern India.
Two times I visited the city , first time when I was a student in a college in Tiruchirappalli and second time with my parents as a trip to this holy city . Specially the decoration of the gates of the Meenakshi temple is breath taking . There are lots of temple in southern India they also have sculpture in gopuram (the entry gate of soth indian temple ) but the details of the art work you can see is amazing .
places to visit in madurai :
Meenakshi Amma Temple :
Meenakshi Amma Temple was build by pandyan empiror Sadayavarman Kulasekaran I in the 12 th century but the tamil text says it has been there from the 6 th century . This is the combination of three parts of hinduism Shaktism , shivaism and vaishnaism . The main deities are Devi Meenakshi who is a form of Devi Parvati, her husband sundaresvarar who is the form of shiva and her brother Alagar who is a form of vishnu . But in this temple devi Meenakshi is the main deity .
There are four beautifully decorated gopurams in the four sides of the temple . The whole temple is surrounded by high walls . There were also the sculpture of krishna , Devi Rukmani, laxmi Saraswati and bhrambha . This temple has been rebuild , renovated and expanded several times specially in the 17 th century by the Nayak ruler Vishwanatha Nayakar. There are several festivals organished in this temple like chithirai thiruvizha , Panguni Uthiram , Avani Avittam and Navaratri.
When you go for a visit to this temple keep in mind that in the afternoon this temple is closed for four hours . Generally the opening time of Meenakshi temple is 5:00 AM to 12:30PM and 4:00 PM to 9:30 PM . But according to the festival it might vary . For faster Darshan you might have to buy premium ticket otherwise it is free .
Thirumalai Nayakkar Palace:
Thirumalai Nayakkar Mahal was build in 1636 by Thirumalai Nayakkar , the king of Nayaka Dynasty of madurai . This Dynasty ruled MaduraI from 1545 to 1740 . The big coloums supporting the roof is the identity of the palace . This palace has mainly two part swarga vilasam and the ranga vilasam . The palace’s inside structure is build with brick and outside finish is made of lime and egg white .
This palace is situated just 1.5 km away of the Meenakshi amman temple . In everyday evening there will be light and sound show to know about the History of the the Nayaka dynasty and the history of the city . The palace can be opened between 9 am – 5 pm .
Gandhi Memorial Museum :
Gandhi memorial museum is one of the place to visit in Madurai established in 1959 . This museum building was originally the Rani Mangammal of Nayak Dynasty built about 1670 A.D. This museum has different human made models and pictures which tells the gandhi’s involvement in Indian Independemce moment .
One of the attraction of the museum is the blood strained cloths of gandhi when he was assassinated.
Opening time of this museum is 10 am to 1 pm and 2pm -5.45 pm .
Kazimar Big Mosque :
Kazimar Big Mosque is one of the historical building in the city of madurai . This mosque was established by Kazi stayed Tajuddin in 1284 . He came here from yemen and was descendent of Profet Muhammad . This is the oldest mosque in this city and land was given by the pandian king .
At a time in this mosque 1200 people can pray . It is situated 1.5 km from the Meenakshi Amman Temple.
Koodal Azhagar Temple :
Koodal Azhagar temple is situated in the heart of the madurai city dedicated to the deity Koodal Azhagar . Azhagar is a form of vishnu .In this region there is a specific part of the vaishnavites who follow this deity . It is believed that this temple has been build in the 6 the century . In this temple vishnu is in the standing posture . Intricate curved pillars , towering gopurams and beautifully curved sculpture are the features of the temple .
There is a special festival called Vaikunta Ekadashi where thousand pilgrims fast and pray to the god Azhagar .
opening time of the temple is from 6:30 am to 11:30 am and 4:30 pm to 7:00 pm
Vaigai Dam :
Vaigai dam was constructed in the year 1959. It was build to irrigate different districts of the Tamilnadu . This is constructed on the river Vaigai and It is situated 70km away of the city of madurai .
Alagar Koyil :
Algar Koyil is a temple situated 21 km from the city of madurai in the foothills of the Algar hills dedicated to the deity algar(a form of vishnu ). This is one of the oldest and important temple in this region believed to be more than 2000 years old . This temple is situated in the scerene beautiful mountain place of western ghat . The deity in this temple algar is in the standing posture .
Chithirai Festival is the most important festival in this temple where algar goes to the marriage of his sister Meenakshi and sunderaswar in the Meenakshi amman temple .
opening time of this temple is between 6am-12:30 pm and 4:00 pm – 8:00 pm .
Jasmine Flower Markets
In Madurai there is different jasmine flower market situated in the different parts of the city . Normally this flower market opens in 5 am and closed around 8 am . The prominent different flower markets in Madurai city are Mariamman Teppakulam Flower Market , Nandi Meenakshi Market , Chokkikulam Flower Market , Town Hall Flower Market and Vaigai Flower Market .
Specially tamil woman keep it their hair as decoration . It has beautiful, sweet fragrance.
sungudi sarees :
sungudi sarees is a special types cotton saree Produced in Madurai . It is a totally hand made process . First the weaving is done in traditional . way . Then coloring is done by the natural color , make it totally eco friendly .
In 2005 It gets GI tag for this saree . This sarees are worn mainly in the festival and religious rituals . You can see lots of round shape circle circle , this round shape is called sungudi in Gujrati . In 16 the century some people from Gujrat sourastra moved to the city of Madurai . They first started building this saree . For making a single sungudi sarees it requires almost 15 days . As it made by pure cotton so it is comfortable in Tamil nadu‘s high heat .
festivals in madurai:
jallikattu in madurai :
Jalaikattu is a very unique types of festival in the Indian subcontinent . This is mainly celebrated in the time of Pongal festival in the villages of madurai . People say this is 2000 year old festival celebrated at this this time . This bulls are special kinds of Bull which are well maintained by the owner . Here a bull is released in a open field and the participants ambition is to hold the horn of the bull and ride on the bull . Sometimes there is major injuries to the bull and the participants . It is the resistance of the people of madurai that make them live still now .
chithirai thiruvizha:
.
This is the biggest festival in madurai which is celebrated in the month of chithirai in the time of marriage of devi Meenakshi and her consort sundareswarar . This time in the Meenakshi temple there was a huge gathering and the whole temple is decorated with light and garlands . Tamil People from India and outside come here to join the festival .
Summary :
Madurai is one of the oldest city of Southern India . According to the tamil literature, it has been 3000 years old city with most prominent temple is Meenakshi Amman Temple . In the city and surrounding the city there are lots of prominent temples .which are more than 1000 years old . Jasmine flower market are one of the prominent markets to see in the morning in Madurai . It is also famous for it’s sungudi sarees .The biggest festival in the city of madurai are jallikattu and chithirai thiruvizha . Everyday thousands of pilgrims visit the city specially to visit Meenakshi Amman Temple .
