Madurai,
Tamil Nadu, India
The
second largest, and perhaps oldest, city in Tamil Nadu, Madurai is a variant
of 'Mathura'. Located on the Vaigai
River and enclosed by the Anai, Naga, and Pasu (Elephant, Snake, and Cow)
hills, the old city, site of the Pandya (4th-11th century) capital, centers
on Meenakshi-Sundareshwara (or Parvati-Shiva) temple, also called Sri Meenakshi temple. After the Pandyas,
it passed to Chola, Vijayanagar, Muslim, Maratha, and British rulers. The
temple, Tirumala Nayak palace, Teppakulam tank (an earthen embankment
reservoir), and a 1,000-pillared hall were rebuilt in the Vijayanagar period
(16th-17th century) after the city's total destruction in 1310 by Malik Kafur,
a lieutenant of Ala'-ud-din Khalji of the Delhi Sultanate. In the 1940s,
Madurai became a centre of the civil disobedience movement and remained an
important seat of political leadership. Setup in 1955, the Gandhi Memorial museum
documents the Indian struggle against the British from 1757 to 1947. [Adapted from Encyclopedia Britannica]
|
Sri Meenakshi Temple |
| Western
gopuram
 |
Western
gopuram detail
 |
More western
gopurams (more)
 |
Southern
gopuram
 |
Zooming in (more)
 |
|
Religious
kitsch on sale
 |
Market inside
the temple
 |
En route
Shiva's shrine
 |
Pillar details
 |
Hallway and
ceiling detail
 |
Pillar details
 |
Holy men
 |
Outside the
inner sanctum
 |
|
Votive lamps
 |
Corridor
behind inner sanctum
 |
Holy men
 |
Temple tank
 |
Temple tank (1,
2)
 |
Way to
Meenakshi shrine
 |
Meenakshi
shrine
 |
Pillared hall
 |
Nandi
worshippers
 |
Random temple
corner
 |
Pillars and
ceiling
 |
Pujari
downtime
 |
Pillar tops
 |
Queuing for
Amman
 |
Ancient
stories on a wall
 |
|
Sri Meenakshi Temple Museum |
Woman or
goddess?
 |
Left of museum
entrance (more)
 |
Right of
museum entrance
 |
Man or woman?
 |
| 1,000-pillared
hall, main passage
 |
Left flank of
passage (more)
 |
Shiva &
Parvati in the center
 |
Right flank of
passage
 |
Resting
tourist
 |
Illustrated
ancient stories
 |
More stories (1,
2,
3)
 |
Chariot for
the gods
 |
| |
|
Thirumalai Nayak's Palace ▒ |
| Palace
entrance
 |
Durbar hall
▒
 |
Lots of
pillars
 |
Site of the
throne (1, 2)
 |
Ceiling detail
 |
Built in 1636
CE
 |
Indo-Saracenic
architecture
 |
Seat of the
king
 |
Pillars &
ceiling
 |
Columns &
arches
 |
Columns &
arches
 |
Thirumalai
Nayak
 |
Dance & music
hall ▒
 |
To entertain
the king
 |
Designed by an
Italian
 |
Wall detail
 |
Vaigai river
 |
Teppakulam
tank (more)
 |
Gandhi
Memorial museum
 |
Lunch spot
 |
| |
|
|
|
