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Madurai

January 03, 2023

This article is about the city in Tamil Nadu, India. For the administrative district of Madurai, see Madurai district.

Madurai (/ˈmædjʊraɪ/ MA-DHU-RYE,[5][6] also US: /ˌmɑːdəˈraɪ/ MAH-də-RYE,[6][7][8] Tamil: [mad̪uɾaɪ̯]) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in Tamil Nadu after Chennai and Coimbatore and the 44th most populated city in India.[9] Located on the banks of River Vaigai, Madurai has been a major settlement for two millennia and has a documented history of more than 2500 years.[citation needed] It is often referred to as "Thoonga Nagaram", meaning "the city that never sleeps".[10]

Madurai
Madura (colonial)
Metropolis
From top, left to right: Meenakshi Temple, Thirumalai Nayakkar Mahal, Gandhi Museum, Madurai Junction, Jallikattu at Alanganallur, Madurai Airport, Vaigai river and Thiruparankundram aerial view
Nickname: 
The city that never sleeps[citation needed]
Madurai
Madurai, Tamil Nadu
Madurai
Madurai (India)
Coordinates: 9°55′31″N 78°07′11″E / 9.925200°N 78.119800°E / 9.925200; 78.119800Coordinates: 9°55′31″N 78°07′11″E / 9.925200°N 78.119800°E / 9.925200; 78.119800
Country India
StateTamil Nadu
DistrictMadurai district
Government
 • TypeMunicipal Corporation
 • BodyMadurai City Corporation
 • MayorV. Indirani ponVasanth, DMK
 • District CollectorDr. Aneesh Shekar IAS
 • Commissioner of PoliceT Senthilkumar IPS[2]
 • Corporation CommissionerSimranjeet Singh Kahlon IAS[3]
Area
 • Metropolis147.97 km2 (57.13 sq mi)
 • Rank3
Elevation
134 m (440 ft)
Population
 (2011)[4]
 • Metropolis1,017,865[a]
 • Rank44th
 • Metro
1,465,625
 • Metro rank
31st
Language
 • OfficialTamil,
English
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN
625 xxx
Telephone code0452
Vehicle registrationTN-58 (South), TN-58A (Tirumangalam), TN-58Y (Usilampatti),TN-59 (North), TN-59V (Vadipatti), TN-59W (Melur) and TN-64(Central)
Websitemaduraicorporation.co.in

Madurai is closely associated with the Tamil language. The third Tamil Sangam, a major congregation of Tamil scholars said to have been held in the city. The recorded history of the city goes back to the 3rd century BCE, being mentioned by Megasthenes, the Greek ambassador to the Maurya empire, and Kautilya, a minister of the Mauryan emperor Chandragupta Maurya. Signs of human settlements and Roman trade links dating back to 300 BCE are evident from excavations by Archeological Survey of India in Manalur.[11][12][13] The city is believed to be of significant antiquity and has been ruled, at different times, by the Pandyas, Cholas, Madurai Sultanate, Vijayanagar Empire, Madurai Nayaks, Carnatic kingdom, and the British East India Company British Raj.

The city has a number of historical monuments, with the Meenakshi Temple and the Thirumalai Nayak Palace being the most prominent. Madurai is an important industrial and educational hub in South Tamil Nadu. The city is home to various automobile, rubber, chemical and granite manufacturing industries.[14]

Madurai has important government educational institutes such as the Madurai Medical College, Homeopathic Medical College,[15] Madurai Law College, Agricultural College and Research Institute. Madurai city is administered by a municipal corporation established in 1971 as per the Municipal Corporation Act. The city covers an area of 147.97 km2 (57.13 sq mi) and had a population of 1,470,755 in 2011.[16] The city is also the seat of a bench of the Madras High Court. The Madurai Bench has been functioning since 2004.

Etymology

According to Iravatham Mahadevan, a 2nd-century BCE Tamil-Brahmi inscription refers to the city as matiray, an Old Tamil word meaning a "walled city".[17]

Madurai is one of the many temple towns in the state which is named after the groves, clusters or forests dominated by a particular variety of a tree or shrub and the same variety of tree or shrub sheltering the presiding deity. The region is believed to have been covered with Kadamba forest and hence called Kadambavanam.[18] The city is referred by various names including "Madurai", "Koodal", "Malligai Maanagar", "Naanmadakoodal" and "Thirualavai". The word Madurai may be derived from Madhura (sweetness) arising out of the divine nectar showered on the city by the Hindu god Siva from his matted hair.[19] Another theory is that Madurai is the derivative of the word Marutham, which refers to the type of landscape of the Sangam age. A town in the neighbouring Dindigul district is called Vada Madurai (North Madurai) and another in Sivagangai district is called Manamadurai. The different names by which the city has been referred to historically are listed in the 7th-century poem Thiruvilayaadal Puraanam written by Paranjothi Munivar.[19][20] Vaishnava texts refer to Madurai as the "southern Mathura", probably similar to Tenkasi (southern Kashi).[21][22]

Koodal means an assembly or congregation of scholarly people, referring to the three Tamil Sangams held at Madurai. Naanmadakoodal, meaning the junction of four towers, refers to the four major temples for which Madurai was known for.[19] Tevaram, the 7th- or 8th-century Tamil compositions on Shiva by the three prominent Nayanars (Saivites), namely Appar,[23] Sundarar and Thirugnanasambandar,[24][25] address the city as Thirualavai.[19][26]

History

 
Hand coloured antique wood engraving drawn by W. Purser (1858) shows Madurai city as seen from the north bank of the Vaigai river

Madurai is mentioned in the great book Mahavamsa, that in the 6th century BCE, Prince Vijaya(BCE 543–505) married the daughter of King Pandu of Madurai and 700 men of prince Vijaya married 700 maidens from Madurai as their wives. The princess and maidens were sent to Sri Lanka with valuable items by ships and they landed in MahaTittha, present-day Mannar.[27] Madurai has been inhabited since at least the 3rd century BCE.[28] Megasthenes may have visited Madurai during the 3rd century BCE, with the city referred as "Methora" in his accounts.[19] The view is contested by some scholars who believe "Methora" refers to the north Indian city of Mathura, as it was a large and established city in the Mauryan Empire.[29] Madurai is also mentioned in Kautilya's (370–283 BCE)[30] Arthashastra.[19] Sangam literature like Maturaikkāñci records the importance of Madurai as a capital city of the Pandyan dynasty.[31][32] Madurai is mentioned in the works of Roman historians Pliny the Younger (61 – c. 112 CE), Ptolemy (c. 90 – c. CE 168), those of the Greek geographer Strabo (64/63 BCE – c. 24 CE),[33] and also in Periplus of the Erythraean Sea.[20]

 
Pandyan dynasty at its greatest extent
 
Coin of Jalaluddin Ahsan Khan, first ruler of the Sultanate of Madurai, 1335–1339 CE

After the Sangam age, most of present-day Tamil Nadu, including Madurai, came under the rule of the Kalabhra dynasty,[34] which was ousted by the Pandyas around 590 CE.[35][36] The Pandyas were ousted from Madurai by the Chola dynasty during the early 9th century.[37]No mention of Madurai The city was fought over between the Cholas and the Pandyas during the 12th century, changing hands several times,[38] until the early 13th century, when the second Pandyan empire was established with Madurai as its capital.[37] After the death of Kulasekara Pandian (1268–1308 CE), Madurai came under the rule of the Delhi Sultanate.[37] The Madurai Sultanate then seceded from Delhi and functioned as an independent kingdom until its gradual annexation by the Vijayanagar Empire in 1378 CE. Madurai became independent from Vijayanagar in 1559 CE under the Nayaks.[39] Nayak rule ended in 1736 CE and Madurai was repeatedly captured several times by Chanda Sahib (1740 – 1754 CE), Arcot Nawab and Muhammed Yusuf Khan (1725 – 1764 CE) in the middle of the 18th century.[19]

In 1801, Madurai came under the direct control of the British East India Company and was annexed to the Madras Presidency.[40][41] The British government made donations to the Meenakshi temple and participated in the Hindu festivals during the early part of their rule. The city evolved as a political and industrial complex through the 19th and 20th centuries to become a district headquarters of a larger Madurai district.[42] In 1837, the fortifications around the temple were demolished by the British.[43] The moat was drained and the debris was used to construct new streets – Veli, Marat and Perumaal Mesthiri streets.[44] The city was constituted as a municipality in 1866 under the Town Improvement Act of 1865.[45] The British government faced initial hiccups during the earlier period of the establishment of municipality in land ceiling and tax collection in Madurai and Dindigul districts under the direct administration of the officers of the government. The city, along with the district, was resurveyed between 1880 and 1885 CE and subsequently, five municipalities were constituted in the two districts and six taluk boards were set up for local administration. Police stations were established in Madurai city, housing the headquarters of the District Superintendent.[46]

It was in Madurai, in 1921, that Mahatma Gandhi, pre-eminent leader of Indian nationalism in British-ruled India, first adopted the loin cloth as his mode of dress after seeing agricultural labourers wearing it.[47] Leaders of the independence movement in Madurai included N.M.R. Subbaraman,[48][49] Karumuttu Thiagarajan Chettiar and Mohammad Ismail Sahib.[50] The Temple Entry Authorization and Indemnity Act passed by the government of Madras Presidency under C. Rajagopalachari in 1939 removed restrictions prohibiting Shanars and Dalits from entering Hindu temples. The temple entry movement was first led in Madurai Meenakshi temple by independence activist A. Vaidyanatha Iyer in 1939.[51][52]

In 1971, the municipality of Madurai was upgraded to a Municipal Corporation.[53] In 2011 the Madurai Corporation expanded the area of its jurisdiction from seventy-two wards to one hundred wards, an increase in area from 51.82 square kilometres (12,810 acres) to 147.997 square kilometres (36,571 acres).[53]

Architecture

 
Map of Madurai showing centre of the city and some important landmarks

Madurai is built around the Meenakshi Amman Temple, which acted as the geographic and ritual centre of the ancient city of Madurai. The city is divided into a number of concentric quadrangular streets around the temple.[54] Vishwanatha Nayak (1529–64 CE), the first Madurai Nayak king, redesigned the city in accordance with the principles laid out by Shilpa Shastras (Sanskrit: śilpa śāstra, also anglicised as silpa sastra meaning rules of architecture) related to urban planning. These squares retain their traditional names of Aadi, Chittirai, Avani-moola and Masi streets, corresponding to the Tamil month names and also to the festivals associated.[54] The temple prakarams (outer precincts of a temple) and streets accommodate an elaborate festival calendar in which dramatic processions circumambulate the shrines at varying distances from the centre. The temple chariots used in processions are progressively larger in size based on the size of the concentric streets.[55] Ancient Tamil classics record the temple as the centre of the city and the surrounding streets appearing liken a lotus and its petals.[20] The city's axes were aligned with the four-quarters of the compass, and the four gateways of the temple provided access to it. The wealthy and higher echelons of the society were placed in streets close to the temple, while the poorest were placed in the fringe streets. With the advent of British rule during the 19th century, Madurai became the headquarters of a large colonial political complex and an industrial town; with urbanisation, the social hierarchical classes became unified.[54]

Geography and climate

 
Vaigai River in Madurai

The municipal corporation of Madurai has an area of 147.97 square kilometres or 57.13 square miles.[56]

Madurai is located at 9°56′N 78°07′E / 9.93°N 78.12°E / 9.93; 78.12.[57] It has an average elevation of 134 metres. The city of Madurai lies on the flat and fertile plain of the river Vaigai, which runs in the northwest–southeast direction through the city, dividing it into two almost equal halves.[58] The Sirumalai and Nagamalai hills lie to the north and west of Madurai. The land in and around Madurai is utilised largely for agricultural activity, which is fostered by the Periyar Dam.[59] Madurai lies southeast of the western ghats, and the surrounding region occupies the plains of South India and contains several mountain spurs.[60] The soil type in central Madurai is predominantly clay loam, while red loam and black cotton types are widely prevalent in the outer fringes of the city. Paddy is the major crop, followed by pulses, millet, oil seed, cotton and sugarcane.[61]

As is typical for Tamil Nadu, Madurai has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen Aw/As), although it borders closely upon a hot semi-arid climate (BSh).

Madurai is hot and dry for eight months of the year. Cold winds are experienced during February and March as in the neighbouring Dindigul. The hottest months are from March to July. The city experiences a moderate climate from August to October, tempered by heavy rain and thundershowers, and a slightly cooler climate from November to February. Fog and dew are rare, occurring only during the winter season. Being equidistant from mountains and the sea, it experiences similar monsoon pattern with Northeast monsoon and Southwest monsoon, with the former providing more rain during October to December.[62] The average annual rainfall for the Madurai district is about 85.76 cm.[63]

Temperatures during summer generally reach a maximum of 42 °C or 107.6 °F and a minimum of 26.3 °C or 79.3 °F, although temperatures up to 43 °C or 109.4 °F are not uncommon.[64] Winter temperatures range between 29.6 °C or 85.3 °F and 18 °C or 64.4 °F. A study based on the data available with the Indian Meteorological Department on Madurai over a period of 62 years indicate rising trend in atmospheric temperature over Madurai city, attributed to urbanisation, growth of vehicles and industrial activity.[64] The maximum temperature of 42 °C or 107.6 °F for the decade of 2001 to 2010 was recorded in 2004 and in 2010.[64]

Climate data for Madurai, India (1981-2010)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 39.1
(102.4) 		38.5
(101.3) 		41.7
(107.1) 		42.1
(107.8) 		44.5
(112.1) 		42.2
(108.0) 		40.6
(105.1) 		40.0
(104.0) 		39.8
(103.6) 		40.0
(104.0) 		38.0
(100.4) 		37.0
(98.6) 		44.5
(112.1)
Average high °C (°F) 30.8
(87.4) 		33.3
(91.9) 		36.0
(96.8) 		37.2
(99.0) 		37.9
(100.2) 		37.2
(99.0) 		36.5
(97.7) 		36.2
(97.2) 		35.1
(95.2) 		33.1
(91.6) 		30.6
(87.1) 		30.0
(86.0) 		34.5
(94.1)
Average low °C (°F) 19.6
(67.3) 		21.5
(70.7) 		23.4
(74.1) 		25.6
(78.1) 		26.3
(79.3) 		26.2
(79.2) 		25.9
(78.6) 		25.5
(77.9) 		24.6
(76.3) 		23.7
(74.7) 		22.7
(72.9) 		21.3
(70.3) 		23.9
(75.0)
Record low °C (°F) 15.6
(60.1) 		10.5
(50.9) 		16.9
(62.4) 		19.4
(66.9) 		17.8
(64.0) 		17.8
(64.0) 		19.4
(66.9) 		20.6
(69.1) 		18.5
(65.3) 		18.9
(66.0) 		17.2
(63.0) 		16.7
(62.1) 		10.5
(50.9)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 8.5
(0.33) 		11.0
(0.43) 		18.3
(0.72) 		60.1
(2.37) 		80.6
(3.17) 		34.3
(1.35) 		56.9
(2.24) 		93.9
(3.70) 		121.5
(4.78) 		185.8
(7.31) 		147.2
(5.80) 		51.3
(2.02) 		869.4
(34.23)
Average precipitation days 0.8 1.1 1.2 3.3 4.0 2.2 2.9 4.6 6.6 9.7 6.8 3.4 46.6
Average relative humidity (%) 77 77 76 72 70 68 70 71 71 76 78 78 74
Average ultraviolet index 7 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 7 7 6 6 7
Source 1: Indian Meteorological Department Mean data from 1981–2010[65][66]
Source 2: Weather Atlas[67]

Demographics

 
Front view of the corporation office
Religion in Madurai (2011)
Religion Percent(%)
Hinduism
 
 85.83%
Islam
 
 8.54%
Christianity
 
 5.18%
Others
 
 0.47%

According to 2011 census based on pre-expansion limits, the area covered under the Madurai Municipal Corporation had a population of 1,017,865[1] with a sex-ratio of 999 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929.[71] A total of 100,324 were under the age of six, constituting 51,485 males and 48,839 females. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 6.27% and .31% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the city was 81.95%, compared to the national average of 72.99%.[16] The urban agglomeration of Madurai had a population of 1,465,625,[72] and is the third largest in Tamil Nadu and the 31st in India.[73][74]

According to the religious census of 2011, Madurai had 85.83% Hindus, 8.54% Muslims, 5.18% Christians and 0.47% others.[75] Tamil is the main language, and the standard dialect is the Madurai Tamil dialect, and is spoken by 89.0% of the population.[76] Saurashtra, a language related to Gujarati, is the largest minority language which is spoken by 5.4% of the population. Other significant minority languages include Telugu (2.7%) and Urdu (1.5%).[77] Roman Catholics in Madurai are affiliated with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Madurai,[78] while Protestants are affiliated with the Madurai-Ramnad Diocese of the Church of South India.[79]

In 2001, Slum-dwellers comprise 32.6 per cent of the total population, much higher than the national average of 15.05 per cent.[80][81] The increase in growth rate to 50 per cent from 1971 to 1981 is due to the city's upgrade to a municipal corporation in 1974 and the subsequent inclusion of 13 Panchayats into the corporation limits. The decline in the population growth rate between 1981 and 2001 is due to the bifurcation of Madurai district into two, Madurai and Dindigul in 1984, and the subsequently of part of the city into the Theni district in 1997. The compounded annual growth rate dropped from 4.10 per cent during 1971–81 to 1.27 per cent during 1991–2004.[82]

Administration and politics

The municipality of Madurai was constituted on 1 November 1866 as per the Town Improvement Act of 1865.[45] The municipality was headed by a chairperson and elections were regularly conducted for the post except during the period 1891 to 1896, when no elections were held due to violent factionalism. During the early years of independent India, the Madurai municipality was dominated by reformists of the Indian National Congress.[90] Madurai was upgraded to a municipal corporation on 1 May 1971 as per the Madurai City Municipal Corporation Act, 1971.[91] It is the second oldest municipal corporation in Tamil Nadu, after Chennai.[92] The functions of the municipality are devolved into six departments: General, Engineering, Revenue, Public Health, Town planning and the Computer Wing. All these departments are under the control of a Municipal Commissioner, who is the supreme executive head.[93] The legislative powers are vested in a body of 100 members, one each from the 100 wards. The legislative body is headed by an elected Mayor assisted by a Deputy Mayor.[94] The corporation received several awards in 2008 for implementing development works.[95]

The city of Madurai is represented in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly by six elected members, one each for the Madurai East, Madurai West, Madurai North, Madurai Central, Madurai South and Thirupparankundram constituencies.[96] Most of Madurai city comes under the Madurai Lok Sabha constituency and elects a member to the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India, once every five years.[97] From 1957, the Madurai parliament seat was held by the Indian National Congress seven times in the 1962–67,[98] 1971–77,[99] 1977–80,[100] 1980–84,[101] 1984–89,[102] 1989–91[103] and 1991 elections.[104] The Communist Party of India (Marxist) won the seat three times during 1967–71,[105] 1999–2004[106] and 2004–09[107] general elections. The Communist Party of India (1957–61[108]), Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar) (1996–98[109]), Janata Party (1998[110]), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (2009–2014)[111] and All India Anna Dravida Munnertra Kazhagam (2014–2020)[88] have each won once. Part of the city which falls under Thirupparankundram assembly constituency comes under the Virudhunagar Lok Sabha constituency.[89]

Law and order is enforced by the Tamil Nadu Police, which, for administrative purposes, has constituted Madurai city as a separate district. The district is divided into four sub-divisions, namely Thallakulam, Anna Nagar, Thilagar Thidal and Town,[112] with a total of 27 police stations.[113] The Madurai city police force is headed by a Commissioner of police, assisted by Deputy Commissioners. Enforcement of law and order in the suburban areas are handled by the Madurai district police.[114] In 2008, the crime rate in the city was 283.2 per 100,000 people, accounting for 1.1 per cent of all crimes reported in major cities in India, and it was ranked 19th among 35 major cities in India. As of 2008, Madurai recorded the second highest SLL (Special and Local Laws) crimes, at 22,728, among cities in Tamil Nadu. However, Madurai had the second lowest crime rate at 169.1 of all the cities in Tamil Nadu.[115] The city is also the seat of a bench of the Madras High Court, one of only a few outside the state capitals of India. It started functioning in July 2004.[116]

Transport

Main article: Transport in Madurai

Road

The National Highways NH-44, NH-38 and NH-85 pass through Madurai.[117] The state highways passing through the city are SH-33, SH-72, SH-72A, SH-73 and SH-73A which connect various parts of Madurai district. Madurai is one of the seven circles of the Tamil Nadu State Highway network.[118] Madurai is the headquarters of the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (Madurai) and provides local and inter-city bus transport across the districts of Madurai, Dindigul, Sivagangai, Theni, Virudhunagar.[119] Madurai has three bus terminals, namely, M.G.R. Bus Stand aka Mattuthavani bus stand is the second largest bus terminus in Tamilnadu after Chennai Mofussil Bus terminus.

 
M.G.R. Bus Stand (Mattuthavani)

Arappalayam (for inter city buses)

Periyar Bus Stand (for intra city buses).[120] There are 12,754 registered three-wheeled vehicles called auto rickshaws, which are commercially available for renting within the city. In addition to the government operated city buses, there are 236 registered private mini-buses that support local transportation.[121]

Rail

Madurai Junction is the major railway station serving the city. It is an important railway junction in southern Tamil Nadu and is one of the top 100 booking stations in Indian Railways. It is the headquarters of the Madurai division of the Southern Railway.[122] There are direct trains from connecting Madurai with major cities and towns across India.[123] The state government announced a monorail project for Madurai called as Madurai Monorail in 2011, which is in planning stages.[124] Madurai–Melur–Tirupattur–Karaikudi new BG line: As sanctioned by Railway Board in the year 2007–08, Survey was taken & the report has been submitted to Railway Board on 29 July 2008. Then updating survey was sanctioned in the year 2013–14 and the survey report was submitted to Railway board on 27 November 2014.

Air

 
Madurai Domestic Airport, Avaniyapuram

Madurai airfield was first used by the Royal Air Force in World War II in 1942.[125] The first passenger flight, a Fokker Friendship aircraft was from Madras in 1956. Madurai Airport established in 1957, is located at Avaniyapuram, about 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) from the city.[126][127] The airport was declared a customs airport in 2012 allowing limited number of international flights.[128] It offers domestic flights to some cities in India and international services to Colombo, Dubai and for Singapore on a daily basis started by Air India Express since February 2018.[129] The carriers operating from the airport are Air India, Air India Express, SpiceJet, IndiGo and Srilankan Airlines.[130] The airport handled 842,300 passengers between April 2015 and March 2016.[131][132] The airport identified as one of 35 non-metro airports for modernisation had a new integrated terminal building, which was inaugurated on 12 September 2010.[133]

Metro Rail

Main article: Madurai Metro

In 2021,The Tamil Nadu Government under Chief Minister M.K. Stalin proposed a metro for the city of Madurai.[134][135] Madurai metro rail will cover 29 km with 17 stations in phase 1. Subsequently, for phase 2, the proposal includes locations such as Tirumangalam, Madurai Airport, and Therkuvasal ultimately connecting to corridor 1 of phase 1.[citation needed]

Sea

The nearest major port is V. O. Chidambaranar Port Trust in Thoothukudi located nearly 150 km (93 mi) away from Madurai connecting with NH38 National Highway and 143 km (89 mi) from Madurai Airport which acts several industrial sectors to operate. There are several import and exporting activities in Thoothukudi harbour to various countries like Singapore and Colombo. An initiative process by the Tamil Nadu government has announced to develop Madurai-Thoothukudi Industrial Corridor in the year of 2014 by the finance minister at the estimated cost of ₹1,83,819 Crore and it covers 13 districts and fund released by Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Fund Management Company Ltd.[136]

Education

 
The American College in Madurai, started in 1881 CE – the oldest college in Madurai

Madurai has been an academic centre of learning for Tamil culture, literature, art, music and dance for centuries.[137] All three assemblies of the Tamil language, the Tamil Sangam (about the 3rd century BCE to the 3rd century CE), were said to have been held at Madurai.[138] Tamil poets of different epochs participated in these assemblies, and their compositions are referred to as Sangam literature.[33] During the third Tamil sangam, the comparative merit of the poets was decided by letting the works float in the lotus tank of the temple. It was believed that a divine force would cause the work of superior merit to float on the surface, while the inferior ones would sink.[137][139]

The American College is the oldest college in Madurai, and was established in 1881 by American Christian missionaries.[140] The Lady Doak college, established in 1948, is the oldest women's college in Madurai.[141] Thiagarajar College (established in 1949), Madura College (established in 1889),[142] Fatima College (established in 1953),[143] Sourashtra College (established in 1967) and M.S.S. Wakf Board College (established in 1964), Tamil Nadu Polytechnic College ( established in 1946),[144] are the oldest educational institutions of the city. Madurai Kamaraj University (originally called Madurai University), established in 1966, is a state-run university which has 109 affiliated arts and science colleges in Madurai and neighbouring districts. There are 47 approved institutions of the university in and around the city, consisting of autonomous colleges, aided colleges, self-financing colleges, constituent colleges, evening colleges and other approved institutions.[145] There are seven polytechnical schools and five Industrial training institutes (ITIs) in Madurai, with the Government ITI and the Government Polytechnic for Women being the most prominent of them all. There are two government medical institutes in Madurai, Madurai Medical College and Homoeopathic Medical College, Thirumangalam and 11 paramedical institutes. There are fifteen engineering colleges in Madurai affiliated to Anna University, with the Thiagarajar College of Engineering being the oldest.[15] The Madurai Law College, established in 1979, is one of the seven government law colleges in the state. It is administered by the Tamil Nadu Government Department of Legal Studies, and affiliated with the Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University.[146] There are three teacher training institutes, two music colleges, three management institutes and 30 arts and sciences colleges in Madurai.[15] The agricultural college and research institute in Madurai, started in 1965 by the state government, provides agricultural education to aspirants in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu.[147] There are a total of 369 primary, secondary and higher secondary schools in the city.[148] AIIMS, a premier medical institution, is also under construction in Madurai and will cover 224 acres of land, at an estimated cost of ₹ 1,264 crore, and additionally allotted 736 crore total around 2,000 crore in the sub-urban Thoppur Madurai district.[149]

Economy

 
Harvey Mills, c. 1914
 
A software company at Thirupparankundram

Madurai was traditionally an agrarian society, with rice paddies as the main crop. Cotton crop cultivation in the regions with black soil in Madurai district was introduced during the Nayaka rule during the 16th century to increase the revenue from agriculture.[150] The paddy fields cultivated in the Vaigai delta across Madurai North, Melur, Nilakottai and Uthamapalayam are known as "double-crop paddy belts". Farmers in the district supplement their income with subsidiary occupations like dairy farming, poultry-farming, pottery, brick making, mat-weaving and carpentry.[151] Madurai is famed for its jasmine plantations, called "Madurai Malli", primarily carried out at the foothills of Kodaikanal hills and traded at the Madurai morning flower market. An average of 2,000 farmers sell flowers daily at the flower market.[137]

With the advent of Small Scale Industries (SSI) after 1991, the industrialisation of Madurai increased employment in the sector across the district from 63,271 in 1992–93 to 166,121 persons in 2001–02.[152] Madurai is one of the few rubber growing areas in South India,[153] and there are rubber-based industries in Madurai. Gloves, sporting goods, mats, other utility products and automobile rubber components are the most produced items by these industries. Automobile manufacturers are the major consumers of rubber components produced in the city.[14] There are numerous textile, granite and chemical industries operating in Madurai.[154]

Madurai is promoted as a tier II city for IT and Industry. kappalur which is sub-urban of Madurai is business hub for automotive industries such as KUN BMW, Isuzu, Volkswagen, Toyota, Mahindra, Tata, Maruti Suzuki, Mitsubishi, Ashok Leyland, Jeep, Fiat India (FCA). The government has created Utchapatti-Thoppur satellite Township in Kappalur. Small Industries Development Corporation Kappalur has many polymer and houseware manufacturing units.some software companies have opened their offices in Madurai.[155] Software Technology Parks of India, an agency of the Government of India, has authorised several such companies to receive benefits under its national information technology development program. The state government proposed two IT-based Special Economic Zones (SEZ) in Madurai, and these have been fully occupied by various IT companies, HCL Technologies and Honeywell have their own campuses in ELCOT IT Park in Madurai.[156][157][158]

Religious sites

 
Meenakshi Amman temple
 
Kazimar Big Mosque, the first and oldest mosque in the city
 
Mahavira at Samanar Hills

Meenakshi Amman Temple is a historic Hindu temple located on the south side of the Vaigai River in Madurai and is one of the most prominent landmarks of the city.[138] It is dedicated to Meenakshi and her consort, Sundareswarar.[137] The complex houses 14 gopurams (gateway towers) ranging from 45–50 metres (148–164 ft) in height, the tallest being the southern tower, 51.9 metres (170 ft) high. There are also two golden sculptured vimana (shrines) over the sanctum of the main deities. The temple is a significant symbol for Tamils and has been mentioned since antiquity in Tamil literature, though the present structure was built between 1623 and 1655 CE.[54][159] As of 2016, the temple attracts on average 15,000 visitors a day, which grows to around 25,000 on Fridays.[160] There are an estimated 33,000 sculptures in the temple,[161] and it was in the list of top 30 nominees for the "New7Wonders of the World".[162]

Koodal Azhagar Temple is a Vishnu temple located in the city. It has idols of the Navagraha (nine planet deities), which are otherwise found only in Shiva temples.[163][164]

Alagar Koyil is a celebrated Vishnu temple 21 kilometres (13 mi) northeast of Madurai situated on the foothills of Solaimalai.[165] The deity, Kallazhagar, is believed to be the brother of Meenakshi, the presiding deity at the Meenakshi temple.[33] The festival calendars of these two temples overlap during the Meenakshi Thirukalyanam festival.[166]

Tirupparankunram is a hill 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) away from Madurai where the Hindu god Murugan is said to have married Deivanai. The temple is the first among the Six Abodes of Murugan and is one of the most visited tourist spots in Madurai, next only to the Meenakshi Amman Temple.[167] The temple has a wide range of Hindu gods carved on the walls.[165]

Kazimar Big Mosque is the oldest Islamic place of worship in the city. It was constructed under the supervision of Kazi Syed Tajuddin, who was a descendant of Islamic Prophet Muhammad. Madurai Maqbara the grave of Meer Ahmad Ibrahim Periya Hazrat, Meer Amjad Ibrahim Chinna Hazrat and Syed Abdus Salam Ibrahim Saalim Hazrat is located inside the mosque.[168] Kazi Syed Tajuddin came from Oman and received the piece of land as a gift from the Pandyan ruler Kulasekara Pandyan I, during the 13th century for the construction of the mosque.[137][168][169] Since its inception until today the mosque has been managed by descendants of Kazi Syed Tajuddin and traditionally the Kazis of Madurai city to the Govt. of Tamil Nadu are appointed from the descendants family.[170] Goripalayam Mosque is located in Gorippalayam, the name of which is derived from the Persian word gor ("grave") and the graves of erstwhile Sultanate rulers Alauddin, Shamsuddeen and Habibuddin are found here.[171] Tirupparankunram Dargah is located at the top of the Thiruparankundram hill where the cemetery of Sultan Sikandhar Badushah the then ruler of Jeddah and Madurai who travelled to India along with Sulthan Syed Ibrahim Shaheed of Ervadi during the 12th century is located.[171] St. Mary's Cathedral is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madurai.[78] Samanar Malai and Panchapandavar Malai are important Jain centres.[172]

Culture and tourism

 
Gandhi Memorial Museum, one of the five Gandhi Sangrahalayas in India

Madurai is popularly called Thoonga Nagaram meaning the city that never sleeps, on account of the active night life.[173] The city attracts a large number of tourists from within the country and abroad. About 9,100,000 tourists visited Madurai in 2010, including 524,000 foreigners.[174] Madurai is now attracting medical tourism also.[175] The palace complex of Thirumalai Nayak Palace was constructed in the Indo-Saracenic style by Thirumalai Nayakar in 1636 CE. It is a national monument maintained by the Tamil Nadu Archaeological Department. The daily sound and light show organised by the department explains the virtues of King Thirumalai and the features of the palace.[165] The palace of Rani Mangamma has been renovated to house one of the five Gandhi Sangrahalayas (Gandhi Memorial Museum, Madurai) in the country. It includes a part of the blood-stained garment worn by Mahatma Gandhi when he was assassinated by Nathuram Godse.[176] A visit by Dr.Martin Luther King Jr. to the museum inspired him to lead peaceful protests against discrimination.[177] The Eco park, situated in Tallakulam, features fountains and lighting in trees using optical fibres.[178] Rajaji children's park, maintained by the Madurai Municipal Corporation, is situated between the Gandhi museum and the Tamukkam grounds. It has a visitor average of 5000 per day during holidays and 2000–3000 on working days. Madurai also has Theme Park, Athisayam which is situated in Paravai, Madurai – Dindugal main road.[179] MGR Race Course Stadium is an athletic stadium which has a synthetic track and a swimming pool.[180] Several national meets are held here.[181] It also hosts several international and national level kabbadi championships.[182]

 
Pillared halls of Thirumalai Nayakar Palace, built during 1636 CE and a national monument

The people of Madurai celebrate numerous festivals, including Meenakshi Tirukkalyanam, the Chittirai Festival and the Car Festival. The annual 10-day Meenakshi Tirukalyanam festival, also called Chittirai festival, is celebrated during April–May every year and attracts one million visitors. Legend has it that the Hindu god Vishnu, as Alagar, rode on a golden horse to Madurai to attend the celestial wedding of Meenakshi (Parvati) and Sundareswarar (Shiva).Before Alagar reaches the wedding, the marriage will be completed and he does not cross the vaigai river. During this day there will be huge crowd will be present near the river too see Lord Alagar in the river. During the Cradle festival, the festive idols of Meenakshi and Sundareswarar are taken in procession to a mirror chamber and set on a rocking swing for nine days. Avanimoolam festival is celebrated during September when the 64 sacred games of Shiva, thiruvilayadal, are recited.[166] The Thepporchavam festival, or float festival, is celebrated on the full moon day of the Tamil month Thai, which falls around January – February, to celebrate the birth anniversary of King Thirumalai Nayak. The decorated icons of Meenakshi and her consort are taken out in a procession from the Meenakshi Temple to the Mariamman Teppakulam. The icons are floated in the tank on a raft decked with flowers and flickering lamps.[165] Jallikattu is one of the most popular historical sport in Tamil Nadu, and is a part of the Pongal festival (harvest festival) Mattu Pongal celebrated during January. The bull taming event is held in the villages surrounding Madurai, and people from the neighbouring villages throng to the open grounds to watch man and bull pitting their strength against each other.[166] The event was banned in the years 2014, 2015 and 2016 following an order by the Supreme Court of India.[183] Santhanakoodu festivals in Madurai are celebrated on various days during the Islamic calendar year to commemorate Islamic saints.[171] Entertainment included shopping malls such as Milan'em Mall and Vishaal de Mal is being the South Tamil Nadu's biggest large format shopping mall, is located in Chokkikulam, Madurai. theaters such as INOX Leisure Limited, Big Cinemas, Thangaregal, and more than ten are playing the vital role in entertainment industry in Madurai. Courtyard by Marriott, Taj Gateway Hotel Pasumalai, GRT Regency, The Heritage hotels, Germanus Hotel, Astoria, Kadambavanam Resort, Poppy's Hotel, Lake View Hotel and Madurai Residency are such a popular hotels. National Cricket Ground NPR College Ground is an artificial turf ground with a seating capacity of 5000 and flood lights. The ground has hosted 10 first class cricket matches and it is also a venue for Tamil Nadu Premier League located 42 km (26 mi) away from Madurai.

Nearest Popular Hill station are Kodaikanal 116 km (72 mi), Sirumalai 90 km (56 mi), Munnar 154 km (96 mi), Kumily 138 km (86 mi) from Madurai. Rameswaram is historical Hindu temple tourism center which is 170 km (110 mi) from Madurai well connected with Rail and road connectivity.

Media and utility services

 
The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court

The city hosts several radio stations, including the state-owned All India Radio[184] and private channels like Hello FM, Radio Mirchi,[185] Suryan FM[186] and Radio City. The Hindu,[187] The New Indian Express[188] and The Times of India[189] are the three principal English-language daily newspapers which have Madurai editions. Deccan Chronicle, though not printed in the city, is another English-language daily newspaper available in the city.[190] The most read Tamil-language daily morning newspapers include Dina Malar,[191] Dina Thanthi,[192] Dina Mani[188] and Dinakaran[193] – all these newspapers have editions from Madurai. There are also daily Tamil evening newspapers like Tamil Murasu, Malai Murasu and Malai Malar[194] published in Madurai. Television broadcasting from Chennai for whole of Tamil Nadu was started on 15 August 1975.[195] Direct-to-home cable television services are provided by DD Direct Plus[196][197] and other private service providers.[198]

Electricity supply to the city is regulated and distributed by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB). The city is the headquarters of the Madurai region of TNEB and along with its suburbs, forms the Madurai Metro Electricity Distribution Circle, which is further divided into six divisions.[199] Water supply is provided by the Madurai City Corporation with overhead tanks and power pumps. In the period 2010–2011, a total of 950.6 lakh litres of water was supplied to 87,091 connections for households in Madurai.[200]

About 400 metric tonnes of solid waste are collected from the city every day by door-to-door collection, and the subsequent source segregation and dumping is carried out by the sanitary department of the Madurai Municipal corporation All the major channels in Madurai are linked by the corporation to receive the flood water from primary, secondary and tertiary drains constructed along the roadsides to dispose of rain water. The sewer system was first established by the British in Madurai in 1924 to cover the core city area, which covers 30 per cent of the present city area. It was further expanded in 1959 and 1983 by a corporation plan. The 2011 Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission covered 90 per cent of households with underground drainage system.[201]

Madurai comes under the Madurai telecom district of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), India's state-owned telecom and internet services provider. Both Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Code division multiple access (CDMA) mobile services are available. Apart from telecom, BSNL also provides broadband internet service and Caller Line Identification (CLI) based internet service Netone.[202][203] Madurai will launch 4G networks in 138 places in Madurai district , said general manager Venugopal Riyali. He presided over the advisory committee meeting attended by Madurai MP Su Venkatesan.

A regional passport office was opened on 17 December 2007 and caters to the needs of nine districts.[204] The city is served by the Government Rajaji Hospital.[205] A branch of All India Institutes of Medical Sciences in Thoppur, in the outskirts of the city, is set to be completed by 2022 as per Central government press release.[206] Eye donations on the rise at Government Rajaji Hospital. Voluntary eye donations are witnessing an increase at the Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH), thanks to better awareness among the public over the past few year. Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH) has started receiving piped drinking water supply following the inauguration of the 1,200m-long pipeline from Rajaji Children’s Park to the hospital by mayor V Indirani Ponvasanth .

Notable people

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ The figure corresponds to the expanded city limits. According to the 2011 census, the pre-expanded city covering an area of 51.82 square kilometres (20.01 sq mi) had a population of 1,017,865.[1]

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Sources

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External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Madurai.
 
Wikiquote has quotations related to Madurai.
 
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Madurai.
  • Tamilnadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Madurai

January 03, 2023
madurai, this, article, about, city, tamil, nadu, india, administrative, district, district, also, ɑː, tamil, uɾaɪ, major, city, indian, state, tamil, nadu, cultural, capital, tamil, nadu, administrative, headquarters, district, 2011, census, third, largest, u. This article is about the city in Tamil Nadu India For the administrative district of Madurai see Madurai district Madurai ˈ m ae dj ʊ r aɪ MA DHU RYE 5 6 also US ˌ m ɑː d e ˈ r aɪ MAH de RYE 6 7 8 Tamil mad uɾaɪ is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District As of the 2011 census it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in Tamil Nadu after Chennai and Coimbatore and the 44th most populated city in India 9 Located on the banks of River Vaigai Madurai has been a major settlement for two millennia and has a documented history of more than 2500 years citation needed It is often referred to as Thoonga Nagaram meaning the city that never sleeps 10 Madurai Madura colonial MetropolisFrom top left to right Meenakshi Temple Thirumalai Nayakkar Mahal Gandhi Museum Madurai Junction Jallikattu at Alanganallur Madurai Airport Vaigai river and Thiruparankundram aerial viewNickname The city that never sleeps citation needed MaduraiMadurai Tamil NaduShow map of Tamil NaduMaduraiMadurai India Show map of IndiaCoordinates 9 55 31 N 78 07 11 E 9 925200 N 78 119800 E 9 925200 78 119800 Coordinates 9 55 31 N 78 07 11 E 9 925200 N 78 119800 E 9 925200 78 119800Country IndiaStateTamil NaduDistrictMadurai districtGovernment TypeMunicipal Corporation BodyMadurai City Corporation MayorV Indirani ponVasanth DMK District CollectorDr Aneesh Shekar IAS Commissioner of PoliceT Senthilkumar IPS 2 Corporation CommissionerSimranjeet Singh Kahlon IAS 3 Area Metropolis147 97 km2 57 13 sq mi Rank3Elevation134 m 440 ft Population 2011 4 Metropolis1 017 865 a Rank44th Metro1 465 625 Metro rank31stLanguage OfficialTamil EnglishTime zoneUTC 5 30 IST PIN625 xxxTelephone code0452Vehicle registrationTN 58 South TN 58A Tirumangalam TN 58Y Usilampatti TN 59 North TN 59V Vadipatti TN 59W Melur and TN 64 Central Websitemaduraicorporation wbr co wbr inMadurai is closely associated with the Tamil language The third Tamil Sangam a major congregation of Tamil scholars said to have been held in the city The recorded history of the city goes back to the 3rd century BCE being mentioned by Megasthenes the Greek ambassador to the Maurya empire and Kautilya a minister of the Mauryan emperor Chandragupta Maurya Signs of human settlements and Roman trade links dating back to 300 BCE are evident from excavations by Archeological Survey of India in Manalur 11 12 13 The city is believed to be of significant antiquity and has been ruled at different times by the Pandyas Cholas Madurai Sultanate Vijayanagar Empire Madurai Nayaks Carnatic kingdom and the British East India Company British Raj The city has a number of historical monuments with the Meenakshi Temple and the Thirumalai Nayak Palace being the most prominent Madurai is an important industrial and educational hub in South Tamil Nadu The city is home to various automobile rubber chemical and granite manufacturing industries 14 Madurai has important government educational institutes such as the Madurai Medical College Homeopathic Medical College 15 Madurai Law College Agricultural College and Research Institute Madurai city is administered by a municipal corporation established in 1971 as per the Municipal Corporation Act The city covers an area of 147 97 km2 57 13 sq mi and had a population of 1 470 755 in 2011 16 The city is also the seat of a bench of the Madras High Court The Madurai Bench has been functioning since 2004 Contents 1 Etymology 2 History 3 Architecture 4 Geography and climate 5 Demographics 6 Administration and politics 7 Transport 7 1 Road 7 2 Rail 7 3 Air 7 4 Metro Rail 7 5 Sea 8 Education 9 Economy 10 Religious sites 11 Culture and tourism 12 Media and utility services 13 Notable people 14 See also 15 Footnotes 16 References 17 Sources 18 External linksEtymology EditAccording to Iravatham Mahadevan a 2nd century BCE Tamil Brahmi inscription refers to the city as matiray an Old Tamil word meaning a walled city 17 Madurai is one of the many temple towns in the state which is named after the groves clusters or forests dominated by a particular variety of a tree or shrub and the same variety of tree or shrub sheltering the presiding deity The region is believed to have been covered with Kadamba forest and hence called Kadambavanam 18 The city is referred by various names including Madurai Koodal Malligai Maanagar Naanmadakoodal and Thirualavai The word Madurai may be derived from Madhura sweetness arising out of the divine nectar showered on the city by the Hindu god Siva from his matted hair 19 Another theory is that Madurai is the derivative of the word Marutham which refers to the type of landscape of the Sangam age A town in the neighbouring Dindigul district is called Vada Madurai North Madurai and another in Sivagangai district is called Manamadurai The different names by which the city has been referred to historically are listed in the 7th century poem Thiruvilayaadal Puraanam written by Paranjothi Munivar 19 20 Vaishnava texts refer to Madurai as the southern Mathura probably similar to Tenkasi southern Kashi 21 22 Koodal means an assembly or congregation of scholarly people referring to the three Tamil Sangams held at Madurai Naanmadakoodal meaning the junction of four towers refers to the four major temples for which Madurai was known for 19 Tevaram the 7th or 8th century Tamil compositions on Shiva by the three prominent Nayanars Saivites namely Appar 23 Sundarar and Thirugnanasambandar 24 25 address the city as Thirualavai 19 26 History Edit Hand coloured antique wood engraving drawn by W Purser 1858 shows Madurai city as seen from the north bank of the Vaigai river Madurai is mentioned in the great book Mahavamsa that in the 6th century BCE Prince Vijaya BCE 543 505 married the daughter of King Pandu of Madurai and 700 men of prince Vijaya married 700 maidens from Madurai as their wives The princess and maidens were sent to Sri Lanka with valuable items by ships and they landed in MahaTittha present day Mannar 27 Madurai has been inhabited since at least the 3rd century BCE 28 Megasthenes may have visited Madurai during the 3rd century BCE with the city referred as Methora in his accounts 19 The view is contested by some scholars who believe Methora refers to the north Indian city of Mathura as it was a large and established city in the Mauryan Empire 29 Madurai is also mentioned in Kautilya s 370 283 BCE 30 Arthashastra 19 Sangam literature like Maturaikkanci records the importance of Madurai as a capital city of the Pandyan dynasty 31 32 Madurai is mentioned in the works of Roman historians Pliny the Younger 61 c 112 CE Ptolemy c 90 c CE 168 those of the Greek geographer Strabo 64 63 BCE c 24 CE 33 and also in Periplus of the Erythraean Sea 20 Pandyan dynasty at its greatest extent Coin of Jalaluddin Ahsan Khan first ruler of the Sultanate of Madurai 1335 1339 CE After the Sangam age most of present day Tamil Nadu including Madurai came under the rule of the Kalabhra dynasty 34 which was ousted by the Pandyas around 590 CE 35 36 The Pandyas were ousted from Madurai by the Chola dynasty during the early 9th century 37 No mention of Madurai The city was fought over between the Cholas and the Pandyas during the 12th century changing hands several times 38 until the early 13th century when the second Pandyan empire was established with Madurai as its capital 37 After the death of Kulasekara Pandian 1268 1308 CE Madurai came under the rule of the Delhi Sultanate 37 The Madurai Sultanate then seceded from Delhi and functioned as an independent kingdom until its gradual annexation by the Vijayanagar Empire in 1378 CE Madurai became independent from Vijayanagar in 1559 CE under the Nayaks 39 Nayak rule ended in 1736 CE and Madurai was repeatedly captured several times by Chanda Sahib 1740 1754 CE Arcot Nawab and Muhammed Yusuf Khan 1725 1764 CE in the middle of the 18th century 19 In 1801 Madurai came under the direct control of the British East India Company and was annexed to the Madras Presidency 40 41 The British government made donations to the Meenakshi temple and participated in the Hindu festivals during the early part of their rule The city evolved as a political and industrial complex through the 19th and 20th centuries to become a district headquarters of a larger Madurai district 42 In 1837 the fortifications around the temple were demolished by the British 43 The moat was drained and the debris was used to construct new streets Veli Marat and Perumaal Mesthiri streets 44 The city was constituted as a municipality in 1866 under the Town Improvement Act of 1865 45 The British government faced initial hiccups during the earlier period of the establishment of municipality in land ceiling and tax collection in Madurai and Dindigul districts under the direct administration of the officers of the government The city along with the district was resurveyed between 1880 and 1885 CE and subsequently five municipalities were constituted in the two districts and six taluk boards were set up for local administration Police stations were established in Madurai city housing the headquarters of the District Superintendent 46 It was in Madurai in 1921 that Mahatma Gandhi pre eminent leader of Indian nationalism in British ruled India first adopted the loin cloth as his mode of dress after seeing agricultural labourers wearing it 47 Leaders of the independence movement in Madurai included N M R Subbaraman 48 49 Karumuttu Thiagarajan Chettiar and Mohammad Ismail Sahib 50 The Temple Entry Authorization and Indemnity Act passed by the government of Madras Presidency under C Rajagopalachari in 1939 removed restrictions prohibiting Shanars and Dalits from entering Hindu temples The temple entry movement was first led in Madurai Meenakshi temple by independence activist A Vaidyanatha Iyer in 1939 51 52 In 1971 the municipality of Madurai was upgraded to a Municipal Corporation 53 In 2011 the Madurai Corporation expanded the area of its jurisdiction from seventy two wards to one hundred wards an increase in area from 51 82 square kilometres 12 810 acres to 147 997 square kilometres 36 571 acres 53 Architecture Edit Map of Madurai showing centre of the city and some important landmarks Madurai is built around the Meenakshi Amman Temple which acted as the geographic and ritual centre of the ancient city of Madurai The city is divided into a number of concentric quadrangular streets around the temple 54 Vishwanatha Nayak 1529 64 CE the first Madurai Nayak king redesigned the city in accordance with the principles laid out by Shilpa Shastras Sanskrit silpa sastra also anglicised as silpa sastra meaning rules of architecture related to urban planning These squares retain their traditional names of Aadi Chittirai Avani moola and Masi streets corresponding to the Tamil month names and also to the festivals associated 54 The temple prakarams outer precincts of a temple and streets accommodate an elaborate festival calendar in which dramatic processions circumambulate the shrines at varying distances from the centre The temple chariots used in processions are progressively larger in size based on the size of the concentric streets 55 Ancient Tamil classics record the temple as the centre of the city and the surrounding streets appearing liken a lotus and its petals 20 The city s axes were aligned with the four quarters of the compass and the four gateways of the temple provided access to it The wealthy and higher echelons of the society were placed in streets close to the temple while the poorest were placed in the fringe streets With the advent of British rule during the 19th century Madurai became the headquarters of a large colonial political complex and an industrial town with urbanisation the social hierarchical classes became unified 54 Geography and climate Edit Vaigai River in Madurai The municipal corporation of Madurai has an area of 147 97 square kilometres or 57 13 square miles 56 Madurai is located at 9 56 N 78 07 E 9 93 N 78 12 E 9 93 78 12 57 It has an average elevation of 134 metres The city of Madurai lies on the flat and fertile plain of the river Vaigai which runs in the northwest southeast direction through the city dividing it into two almost equal halves 58 The Sirumalai and Nagamalai hills lie to the north and west of Madurai The land in and around Madurai is utilised largely for agricultural activity which is fostered by the Periyar Dam 59 Madurai lies southeast of the western ghats and the surrounding region occupies the plains of South India and contains several mountain spurs 60 The soil type in central Madurai is predominantly clay loam while red loam and black cotton types are widely prevalent in the outer fringes of the city Paddy is the major crop followed by pulses millet oil seed cotton and sugarcane 61 As is typical for Tamil Nadu Madurai has a tropical savanna climate Koppen Aw As although it borders closely upon a hot semi arid climate BSh Madurai is hot and dry for eight months of the year Cold winds are experienced during February and March as in the neighbouring Dindigul The hottest months are from March to July The city experiences a moderate climate from August to October tempered by heavy rain and thundershowers and a slightly cooler climate from November to February Fog and dew are rare occurring only during the winter season Being equidistant from mountains and the sea it experiences similar monsoon pattern with Northeast monsoon and Southwest monsoon with the former providing more rain during October to December 62 The average annual rainfall for the Madurai district is about 85 76 cm 63 Temperatures during summer generally reach a maximum of 42 C or 107 6 F and a minimum of 26 3 C or 79 3 F although temperatures up to 43 C or 109 4 F are not uncommon 64 Winter temperatures range between 29 6 C or 85 3 F and 18 C or 64 4 F A study based on the data available with the Indian Meteorological Department on Madurai over a period of 62 years indicate rising trend in atmospheric temperature over Madurai city attributed to urbanisation growth of vehicles and industrial activity 64 The maximum temperature of 42 C or 107 6 F for the decade of 2001 to 2010 was recorded in 2004 and in 2010 64 Climate data for Madurai India 1981 2010 Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec YearRecord high C F 39 1 102 4 38 5 101 3 41 7 107 1 42 1 107 8 44 5 112 1 42 2 108 0 40 6 105 1 40 0 104 0 39 8 103 6 40 0 104 0 38 0 100 4 37 0 98 6 44 5 112 1 Average high C F 30 8 87 4 33 3 91 9 36 0 96 8 37 2 99 0 37 9 100 2 37 2 99 0 36 5 97 7 36 2 97 2 35 1 95 2 33 1 91 6 30 6 87 1 30 0 86 0 34 5 94 1 Average low C F 19 6 67 3 21 5 70 7 23 4 74 1 25 6 78 1 26 3 79 3 26 2 79 2 25 9 78 6 25 5 77 9 24 6 76 3 23 7 74 7 22 7 72 9 21 3 70 3 23 9 75 0 Record low C F 15 6 60 1 10 5 50 9 16 9 62 4 19 4 66 9 17 8 64 0 17 8 64 0 19 4 66 9 20 6 69 1 18 5 65 3 18 9 66 0 17 2 63 0 16 7 62 1 10 5 50 9 Average precipitation mm inches 8 5 0 33 11 0 0 43 18 3 0 72 60 1 2 37 80 6 3 17 34 3 1 35 56 9 2 24 93 9 3 70 121 5 4 78 185 8 7 31 147 2 5 80 51 3 2 02 869 4 34 23 Average precipitation days 0 8 1 1 1 2 3 3 4 0 2 2 2 9 4 6 6 6 9 7 6 8 3 4 46 6Average relative humidity 77 77 76 72 70 68 70 71 71 76 78 78 74Average ultraviolet index 7 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 7 7 6 6 7Source 1 Indian Meteorological Department Mean data from 1981 2010 65 66 Source 2 Weather Atlas 67 Demographics Edit Front view of the corporation office Historical populationYearPop 1951361 781 1961424 810 17 4 1971549 114 29 3 1981820 891 49 5 1991940 989 14 6 2001928 869 1 3 20111 017 865 9 6 Source 1951 1981 68 1991 69 2001 70 2011 1 Religion in Madurai 2011 Religion Percent Hinduism 85 83 Islam 8 54 Christianity 5 18 Others 0 47 According to 2011 census based on pre expansion limits the area covered under the Madurai Municipal Corporation had a population of 1 017 865 1 with a sex ratio of 999 females for every 1 000 males much above the national average of 929 71 A total of 100 324 were under the age of six constituting 51 485 males and 48 839 females Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 6 27 and 31 of the population respectively The average literacy of the city was 81 95 compared to the national average of 72 99 16 The urban agglomeration of Madurai had a population of 1 465 625 72 and is the third largest in Tamil Nadu and the 31st in India 73 74 According to the religious census of 2011 Madurai had 85 83 Hindus 8 54 Muslims 5 18 Christians and 0 47 others 75 Tamil is the main language and the standard dialect is the Madurai Tamil dialect and is spoken by 89 0 of the population 76 Saurashtra a language related to Gujarati is the largest minority language which is spoken by 5 4 of the population Other significant minority languages include Telugu 2 7 and Urdu 1 5 77 Roman Catholics in Madurai are affiliated with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Madurai 78 while Protestants are affiliated with the Madurai Ramnad Diocese of the Church of South India 79 In 2001 Slum dwellers comprise 32 6 per cent of the total population much higher than the national average of 15 05 per cent 80 81 The increase in growth rate to 50 per cent from 1971 to 1981 is due to the city s upgrade to a municipal corporation in 1974 and the subsequent inclusion of 13 Panchayats into the corporation limits The decline in the population growth rate between 1981 and 2001 is due to the bifurcation of Madurai district into two Madurai and Dindigul in 1984 and the subsequently of part of the city into the Theni district in 1997 The compounded annual growth rate dropped from 4 10 per cent during 1971 81 to 1 27 per cent during 1991 2004 82 Administration and politics EditMunicipal Corporation OfficialsMayor Mrs Indirani Ponvasanth 83 Commissioner Visagan 84 Deputy Mayor seat vacant 85 Members of Legislative AssemblyMadurai Central P T R Palanivel Thiagarajan 86 Madurai East P Moorthy 86 Madurai North G Thalapathi 86 Madurai South M Boominathan 86 Madurai West Sellur K Raju 86 Thiruparankundram 87 V V Rajan ChellappaThirumangalam R B Udhayakumar 86 Members of ParliamentMadurai S Venkatesan 88 Virudhunagar Manicka Tagore 89 The municipality of Madurai was constituted on 1 November 1866 as per the Town Improvement Act of 1865 45 The municipality was headed by a chairperson and elections were regularly conducted for the post except during the period 1891 to 1896 when no elections were held due to violent factionalism During the early years of independent India the Madurai municipality was dominated by reformists of the Indian National Congress 90 Madurai was upgraded to a municipal corporation on 1 May 1971 as per the Madurai City Municipal Corporation Act 1971 91 It is the second oldest municipal corporation in Tamil Nadu after Chennai 92 The functions of the municipality are devolved into six departments General Engineering Revenue Public Health Town planning and the Computer Wing All these departments are under the control of a Municipal Commissioner who is the supreme executive head 93 The legislative powers are vested in a body of 100 members one each from the 100 wards The legislative body is headed by an elected Mayor assisted by a Deputy Mayor 94 The corporation received several awards in 2008 for implementing development works 95 The city of Madurai is represented in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly by six elected members one each for the Madurai East Madurai West Madurai North Madurai Central Madurai South and Thirupparankundram constituencies 96 Most of Madurai city comes under the Madurai Lok Sabha constituency and elects a member to the Lok Sabha the lower house of the Parliament of India once every five years 97 From 1957 the Madurai parliament seat was held by the Indian National Congress seven times in the 1962 67 98 1971 77 99 1977 80 100 1980 84 101 1984 89 102 1989 91 103 and 1991 elections 104 The Communist Party of India Marxist won the seat three times during 1967 71 105 1999 2004 106 and 2004 09 107 general elections The Communist Party of India 1957 61 108 Tamil Maanila Congress Moopanar 1996 98 109 Janata Party 1998 110 Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam 2009 2014 111 and All India Anna Dravida Munnertra Kazhagam 2014 2020 88 have each won once Part of the city which falls under Thirupparankundram assembly constituency comes under the Virudhunagar Lok Sabha constituency 89 Law and order is enforced by the Tamil Nadu Police which for administrative purposes has constituted Madurai city as a separate district The district is divided into four sub divisions namely Thallakulam Anna Nagar Thilagar Thidal and Town 112 with a total of 27 police stations 113 The Madurai city police force is headed by a Commissioner of police assisted by Deputy Commissioners Enforcement of law and order in the suburban areas are handled by the Madurai district police 114 In 2008 the crime rate in the city was 283 2 per 100 000 people accounting for 1 1 per cent of all crimes reported in major cities in India and it was ranked 19th among 35 major cities in India As of 2008 Madurai recorded the second highest SLL Special and Local Laws crimes at 22 728 among cities in Tamil Nadu However Madurai had the second lowest crime rate at 169 1 of all the cities in Tamil Nadu 115 The city is also the seat of a bench of the Madras High Court one of only a few outside the state capitals of India It started functioning in July 2004 116 Transport EditMain article Transport in Madurai Road Edit The National Highways NH 44 NH 38 and NH 85 pass through Madurai 117 The state highways passing through the city are SH 33 SH 72 SH 72A SH 73 and SH 73A which connect various parts of Madurai district Madurai is one of the seven circles of the Tamil Nadu State Highway network 118 Madurai is the headquarters of the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation Madurai and provides local and inter city bus transport across the districts of Madurai Dindigul Sivagangai Theni Virudhunagar 119 Madurai has three bus terminals namely M G R Bus Stand aka Mattuthavani bus stand is the second largest bus terminus in Tamilnadu after Chennai Mofussil Bus terminus M G R Bus Stand Mattuthavani Arappalayam for inter city buses Periyar Bus Stand for intra city buses 120 There are 12 754 registered three wheeled vehicles called auto rickshaws which are commercially available for renting within the city In addition to the government operated city buses there are 236 registered private mini buses that support local transportation 121 Rail Edit Madurai Junction is the major railway station serving the city It is an important railway junction in southern Tamil Nadu and is one of the top 100 booking stations in Indian Railways It is the headquarters of the Madurai division of the Southern Railway 122 There are direct trains from connecting Madurai with major cities and towns across India 123 The state government announced a monorail project for Madurai called as Madurai Monorail in 2011 which is in planning stages 124 Madurai Melur Tirupattur Karaikudi new BG line As sanctioned by Railway Board in the year 2007 08 Survey was taken amp the report has been submitted to Railway Board on 29 July 2008 Then updating survey was sanctioned in the year 2013 14 and the survey report was submitted to Railway board on 27 November 2014 Air Edit Madurai Domestic Airport Avaniyapuram Madurai airfield was first used by the Royal Air Force in World War II in 1942 125 The first passenger flight a Fokker Friendship aircraft was from Madras in 1956 Madurai Airport established in 1957 is located at Avaniyapuram about 12 kilometres 7 5 mi from the city 126 127 The airport was declared a customs airport in 2012 allowing limited number of international flights 128 It offers domestic flights to some cities in India and international services to Colombo Dubai and for Singapore on a daily basis started by Air India Express since February 2018 129 The carriers operating from the airport are Air India Air India Express SpiceJet IndiGo and Srilankan Airlines 130 The airport handled 842 300 passengers between April 2015 and March 2016 131 132 The airport identified as one of 35 non metro airports for modernisation had a new integrated terminal building which was inaugurated on 12 September 2010 133 Metro Rail Edit Main article Madurai Metro In 2021 The Tamil Nadu Government under Chief Minister M K Stalin proposed a metro for the city of Madurai 134 135 Madurai metro rail will cover 29 km with 17 stations in phase 1 Subsequently for phase 2 the proposal includes locations such as Tirumangalam Madurai Airport and Therkuvasal ultimately connecting to corridor 1 of phase 1 citation needed Sea Edit The nearest major port is V O Chidambaranar Port Trust in Thoothukudi located nearly 150 km 93 mi away from Madurai connecting with NH38 National Highway and 143 km 89 mi from Madurai Airport which acts several industrial sectors to operate There are several import and exporting activities in Thoothukudi harbour to various countries like Singapore and Colombo An initiative process by the Tamil Nadu government has announced to develop Madurai Thoothukudi Industrial Corridor in the year of 2014 by the finance minister at the estimated cost of 1 83 819 Crore and it covers 13 districts and fund released by Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Fund Management Company Ltd 136 Education Edit The American College in Madurai started in 1881 CE the oldest college in Madurai Madurai has been an academic centre of learning for Tamil culture literature art music and dance for centuries 137 All three assemblies of the Tamil language the Tamil Sangam about the 3rd century BCE to the 3rd century CE were said to have been held at Madurai 138 Tamil poets of different epochs participated in these assemblies and their compositions are referred to as Sangam literature 33 During the third Tamil sangam the comparative merit of the poets was decided by letting the works float in the lotus tank of the temple It was believed that a divine force would cause the work of superior merit to float on the surface while the inferior ones would sink 137 139 The American College is the oldest college in Madurai and was established in 1881 by American Christian missionaries 140 The Lady Doak college established in 1948 is the oldest women s college in Madurai 141 Thiagarajar College established in 1949 Madura College established in 1889 142 Fatima College established in 1953 143 Sourashtra College established in 1967 and M S S Wakf Board College established in 1964 Tamil Nadu Polytechnic College established in 1946 144 are the oldest educational institutions of the city Madurai Kamaraj University originally called Madurai University established in 1966 is a state run university which has 109 affiliated arts and science colleges in Madurai and neighbouring districts There are 47 approved institutions of the university in and around the city consisting of autonomous colleges aided colleges self financing colleges constituent colleges evening colleges and other approved institutions 145 There are seven polytechnical schools and five Industrial training institutes ITIs in Madurai with the Government ITI and the Government Polytechnic for Women being the most prominent of them all There are two government medical institutes in Madurai Madurai Medical College and Homoeopathic Medical College Thirumangalam and 11 paramedical institutes There are fifteen engineering colleges in Madurai affiliated to Anna University with the Thiagarajar College of Engineering being the oldest 15 The Madurai Law College established in 1979 is one of the seven government law colleges in the state It is administered by the Tamil Nadu Government Department of Legal Studies and affiliated with the Tamil Nadu Dr Ambedkar Law University 146 There are three teacher training institutes two music colleges three management institutes and 30 arts and sciences colleges in Madurai 15 The agricultural college and research institute in Madurai started in 1965 by the state government provides agricultural education to aspirants in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu 147 There are a total of 369 primary secondary and higher secondary schools in the city 148 AIIMS a premier medical institution is also under construction in Madurai and will cover 224 acres of land at an estimated cost of 1 264 crore and additionally allotted 736 crore total around 2 000 crore in the sub urban Thoppur Madurai district 149 Economy Edit Harvey Mills c 1914 A software company at Thirupparankundram Madurai was traditionally an agrarian society with rice paddies as the main crop Cotton crop cultivation in the regions with black soil in Madurai district was introduced during the Nayaka rule during the 16th century to increase the revenue from agriculture 150 The paddy fields cultivated in the Vaigai delta across Madurai North Melur Nilakottai and Uthamapalayam are known as double crop paddy belts Farmers in the district supplement their income with subsidiary occupations like dairy farming poultry farming pottery brick making mat weaving and carpentry 151 Madurai is famed for its jasmine plantations called Madurai Malli primarily carried out at the foothills of Kodaikanal hills and traded at the Madurai morning flower market An average of 2 000 farmers sell flowers daily at the flower market 137 With the advent of Small Scale Industries SSI after 1991 the industrialisation of Madurai increased employment in the sector across the district from 63 271 in 1992 93 to 166 121 persons in 2001 02 152 Madurai is one of the few rubber growing areas in South India 153 and there are rubber based industries in Madurai Gloves sporting goods mats other utility products and automobile rubber components are the most produced items by these industries Automobile manufacturers are the major consumers of rubber components produced in the city 14 There are numerous textile granite and chemical industries operating in Madurai 154 Madurai is promoted as a tier II city for IT and Industry kappalur which is sub urban of Madurai is business hub for automotive industries such as KUN BMW Isuzu Volkswagen Toyota Mahindra Tata Maruti Suzuki Mitsubishi Ashok Leyland Jeep Fiat India FCA The government has created Utchapatti Thoppur satellite Township in Kappalur Small Industries Development Corporation Kappalur has many polymer and houseware manufacturing units some software companies have opened their offices in Madurai 155 Software Technology Parks of India an agency of the Government of India has authorised several such companies to receive benefits under its national information technology development program The state government proposed two IT based Special Economic Zones SEZ in Madurai and these have been fully occupied by various IT companies HCL Technologies and Honeywell have their own campuses in ELCOT IT Park in Madurai 156 157 158 Religious sites Edit Meenakshi Amman temple Kazimar Big Mosque the first and oldest mosque in the city Mahavira at Samanar Hills Meenakshi Amman Temple is a historic Hindu temple located on the south side of the Vaigai River in Madurai and is one of the most prominent landmarks of the city 138 It is dedicated to Meenakshi and her consort Sundareswarar 137 The complex houses 14 gopurams gateway towers ranging from 45 50 metres 148 164 ft in height the tallest being the southern tower 51 9 metres 170 ft high There are also two golden sculptured vimana shrines over the sanctum of the main deities The temple is a significant symbol for Tamils and has been mentioned since antiquity in Tamil literature though the present structure was built between 1623 and 1655 CE 54 159 As of 2016 the temple attracts on average 15 000 visitors a day which grows to around 25 000 on Fridays 160 There are an estimated 33 000 sculptures in the temple 161 and it was in the list of top 30 nominees for the New7Wonders of the World 162 Koodal Azhagar Temple is a Vishnu temple located in the city It has idols of the Navagraha nine planet deities which are otherwise found only in Shiva temples 163 164 Alagar Koyil is a celebrated Vishnu temple 21 kilometres 13 mi northeast of Madurai situated on the foothills of Solaimalai 165 The deity Kallazhagar is believed to be the brother of Meenakshi the presiding deity at the Meenakshi temple 33 The festival calendars of these two temples overlap during the Meenakshi Thirukalyanam festival 166 Tirupparankunram is a hill 8 kilometres 5 0 mi away from Madurai where the Hindu god Murugan is said to have married Deivanai The temple is the first among the Six Abodes of Murugan and is one of the most visited tourist spots in Madurai next only to the Meenakshi Amman Temple 167 The temple has a wide range of Hindu gods carved on the walls 165 Kazimar Big Mosque is the oldest Islamic place of worship in the city It was constructed under the supervision of Kazi Syed Tajuddin who was a descendant of Islamic Prophet Muhammad Madurai Maqbara the grave of Meer Ahmad Ibrahim Periya Hazrat Meer Amjad Ibrahim Chinna Hazrat and Syed Abdus Salam Ibrahim Saalim Hazrat is located inside the mosque 168 Kazi Syed Tajuddin came from Oman and received the piece of land as a gift from the Pandyan ruler Kulasekara Pandyan I during the 13th century for the construction of the mosque 137 168 169 Since its inception until today the mosque has been managed by descendants of Kazi Syed Tajuddin and traditionally the Kazis of Madurai city to the Govt of Tamil Nadu are appointed from the descendants family 170 Goripalayam Mosque is located in Gorippalayam the name of which is derived from the Persian word gor grave and the graves of erstwhile Sultanate rulers Alauddin Shamsuddeen and Habibuddin are found here 171 Tirupparankunram Dargah is located at the top of the Thiruparankundram hill where the cemetery of Sultan Sikandhar Badushah the then ruler of Jeddah and Madurai who travelled to India along with Sulthan Syed Ibrahim Shaheed of Ervadi during the 12th century is located 171 St Mary s Cathedral is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madurai 78 Samanar Malai and Panchapandavar Malai are important Jain centres 172 Culture and tourism Edit Gandhi Memorial Museum one of the five Gandhi Sangrahalayas in India Madurai is popularly called Thoonga Nagaram meaning the city that never sleeps on account of the active night life 173 The city attracts a large number of tourists from within the country and abroad About 9 100 000 tourists visited Madurai in 2010 including 524 000 foreigners 174 Madurai is now attracting medical tourism also 175 The palace complex of Thirumalai Nayak Palace was constructed in the Indo Saracenic style by Thirumalai Nayakar in 1636 CE It is a national monument maintained by the Tamil Nadu Archaeological Department The daily sound and light show organised by the department explains the virtues of King Thirumalai and the features of the palace 165 The palace of Rani Mangamma has been renovated to house one of the five Gandhi Sangrahalayas Gandhi Memorial Museum Madurai in the country It includes a part of the blood stained garment worn by Mahatma Gandhi when he was assassinated by Nathuram Godse 176 A visit by Dr Martin Luther King Jr to the museum inspired him to lead peaceful protests against discrimination 177 The Eco park situated in Tallakulam features fountains and lighting in trees using optical fibres 178 Rajaji children s park maintained by the Madurai Municipal Corporation is situated between the Gandhi museum and the Tamukkam grounds It has a visitor average of 5000 per day during holidays and 2000 3000 on working days Madurai also has Theme Park Athisayam which is situated in Paravai Madurai Dindugal main road 179 MGR Race Course Stadium is an athletic stadium which has a synthetic track and a swimming pool 180 Several national meets are held here 181 It also hosts several international and national level kabbadi championships 182 Pillared halls of Thirumalai Nayakar Palace built during 1636 CE and a national monument The people of Madurai celebrate numerous festivals including Meenakshi Tirukkalyanam the Chittirai Festival and the Car Festival The annual 10 day Meenakshi Tirukalyanam festival also called Chittirai festival is celebrated during April May every year and attracts one million visitors Legend has it that the Hindu god Vishnu as Alagar rode on a golden horse to Madurai to attend the celestial wedding of Meenakshi Parvati and Sundareswarar Shiva Before Alagar reaches the wedding the marriage will be completed and he does not cross the vaigai river During this day there will be huge crowd will be present near the river too see Lord Alagar in the river During the Cradle festival the festive idols of Meenakshi and Sundareswarar are taken in procession to a mirror chamber and set on a rocking swing for nine days Avanimoolam festival is celebrated during September when the 64 sacred games of Shiva thiruvilayadal are recited 166 The Thepporchavam festival or float festival is celebrated on the full moon day of the Tamil month Thai which falls around January February to celebrate the birth anniversary of King Thirumalai Nayak The decorated icons of Meenakshi and her consort are taken out in a procession from the Meenakshi Temple to the Mariamman Teppakulam The icons are floated in the tank on a raft decked with flowers and flickering lamps 165 Jallikattu is one of the most popular historical sport in Tamil Nadu and is a part of the Pongal festival harvest festival Mattu Pongal celebrated during January The bull taming event is held in the villages surrounding Madurai and people from the neighbouring villages throng to the open grounds to watch man and bull pitting their strength against each other 166 The event was banned in the years 2014 2015 and 2016 following an order by the Supreme Court of India 183 Santhanakoodu festivals in Madurai are celebrated on various days during the Islamic calendar year to commemorate Islamic saints 171 Entertainment included shopping malls such as Milan em Mall and Vishaal de Mal is being the South Tamil Nadu s biggest large format shopping mall is located in Chokkikulam Madurai theaters such as INOX Leisure Limited Big Cinemas Thangaregal and more than ten are playing the vital role in entertainment industry in Madurai Courtyard by Marriott Taj Gateway Hotel Pasumalai GRT Regency The Heritage hotels Germanus Hotel Astoria Kadambavanam Resort Poppy s Hotel Lake View Hotel and Madurai Residency are such a popular hotels National Cricket Ground NPR College Ground is an artificial turf ground with a seating capacity of 5000 and flood lights The ground has hosted 10 first class cricket matches and it is also a venue for Tamil Nadu Premier League located 42 km 26 mi away from Madurai Nearest Popular Hill station are Kodaikanal 116 km 72 mi Sirumalai 90 km 56 mi Munnar 154 km 96 mi Kumily 138 km 86 mi from Madurai Rameswaram is historical Hindu temple tourism center which is 170 km 110 mi from Madurai well connected with Rail and road connectivity Media and utility services Edit The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court The city hosts several radio stations including the state owned All India Radio 184 and private channels like Hello FM Radio Mirchi 185 Suryan FM 186 and Radio City The Hindu 187 The New Indian Express 188 and The Times of India 189 are the three principal English language daily newspapers which have Madurai editions Deccan Chronicle though not printed in the city is another English language daily newspaper available in the city 190 The most read Tamil language daily morning newspapers include Dina Malar 191 Dina Thanthi 192 Dina Mani 188 and Dinakaran 193 all these newspapers have editions from Madurai There are also daily Tamil evening newspapers like Tamil Murasu Malai Murasu and Malai Malar 194 published in Madurai Television broadcasting from Chennai for whole of Tamil Nadu was started on 15 August 1975 195 Direct to home cable television services are provided by DD Direct Plus 196 197 and other private service providers 198 Electricity supply to the city is regulated and distributed by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board TNEB The city is the headquarters of the Madurai region of TNEB and along with its suburbs forms the Madurai Metro Electricity Distribution Circle which is further divided into six divisions 199 Water supply is provided by the Madurai City Corporation with overhead tanks and power pumps In the period 2010 2011 a total of 950 6 lakh litres of water was supplied to 87 091 connections for households in Madurai 200 About 400 metric tonnes of solid waste are collected from the city every day by door to door collection and the subsequent source segregation and dumping is carried out by the sanitary department of the Madurai Municipal corporation All the major channels in Madurai are linked by the corporation to receive the flood water from primary secondary and tertiary drains constructed along the roadsides to dispose of rain water The sewer system was first established by the British in Madurai in 1924 to cover the core city area which covers 30 per cent of the present city area It was further expanded in 1959 and 1983 by a corporation plan The 2011 Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission covered 90 per cent of households with underground drainage system 201 Madurai comes under the Madurai telecom district of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited BSNL India s state owned telecom and internet services provider Both Global System for Mobile Communications GSM and Code division multiple access CDMA mobile services are available Apart from telecom BSNL also provides broadband internet service and Caller Line Identification CLI based internet service Netone 202 203 Madurai will launch 4G networks in 138 places in Madurai district said general manager Venugopal Riyali He presided over the advisory committee meeting attended by Madurai MP Su Venkatesan A regional passport office was opened on 17 December 2007 and caters to the needs of nine districts 204 The city is served by the Government Rajaji Hospital 205 A branch of All India Institutes of Medical Sciences in Thoppur in the outskirts of the city is set to be completed by 2022 as per Central government press release 206 Eye donations on the rise at Government Rajaji Hospital Voluntary eye donations are witnessing an increase at the Government Rajaji Hospital GRH thanks to better awareness among the public over the past few year Government Rajaji Hospital GRH has started receiving piped drinking water supply following the inauguration of the 1 200m long pipeline from Rajaji Children s Park to the hospital by mayor V Indirani Ponvasanth Notable people EditAmeer Indian actor and Film Director Gopi Shankar Madurai Statutory Authority with Government of India A Muthukrishnan born 1973 Tamil author and social activist Narthaki Nataraj Tamil Nadu Planning Commission Member Prasanna Pandian born 1984 artist architect and an animator Sundar Pichai born 1972 chief executive officer CEO of Alphabet Inc John Ballard Rendall 1847 1924 American educator and politician Palanivel Thiagarajan Indian politician and the current Finance Minister of Tamil Nadu Vadivelu born 1960 Indian actor comedian and playback singer Vivek born 1961 Indian actor comedian television personality playback singer and social activistSee also EditMadurai metropolitan area Thalaivankottai Meenakshi Temple Gandhi Memorial Museum Thirumalai Nayak Palace Vaigai DamFootnotes Edit The figure corresponds to the expanded city limits According to the 2011 census the pre expanded city covering an area of 51 82 square kilometres 20 01 sq mi had a population of 1 017 865 1 References Edit a b c Madurai District census handbook PDF Government of India Archived PDF from the original on 3 August 2016 Retrieved 29 June 2016 https government economictimes indiatimes com news governance senior ips officer t senthilkumar takes charge as commissioner of police of madurai city 90409761 a href Template Cite news html title Template Cite news cite news a Missing or empty title help https www thehindu com news cities Madurai new corporation commissioner assumes office article65485122 ece a href Template Cite news html title Template Cite news cite news a Missing or empty title help Socio Economic Resources Profiling Madurai Corporation Retrieved 24 February 2020 Madurai Lexico UK English Dictionary Oxford University Press Archived from the original on 14 June 2021 a b Madurai Collins English Dictionary HarperCollins Retrieved 22 August 2019 Madurai The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language 5th ed HarperCollins Retrieved 22 August 2019 Madurai Merriam Webster Dictionary Retrieved 22 August 2019 Tamil Nadu City Population Cities Towns amp Provinces Statistics amp Map Thomas Brinkhoff 2011 Retrieved 23 September 2009 Madurai Thoonga Nagaram Serendib BT Options Pvt Ltd April 2017 ASI just found a 2500 year old city The Times of India 13 October 2015 Retrieved 13 October 2015 A site of human settlements turned into a coconut grove The Times of India Retrieved 12 October 2015 Archealogical excavation uncovers Roman Pandyan trade links The Hindu Retrieved 12 October 2015 a b An industry that can bolster the economy of Madurai The Hindu Chennai India 25 October 2007 Archived from the original on 26 October 2007 Retrieved 24 January 2009 a b c List of Colleges in Madurai Government of Tamil Nadu Archived from the original on 11 May 2012 Retrieved 26 June 2012 a b Census Info 2011 Final population totals Madurai Office of The Registrar General and Census Commissioner Ministry of Home Affairs Government of India 2013 Archived from the original on 24 September 2015 Retrieved 26 January 2014 Mahadevan Iravatham 3 October 2003 Early Tamil Epigraphy from the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A D Harvard University Press ISBN 0674012275 Reddy G Venkatramana 2013 Alayam The Hindu temple An epitome of Hindu Culture Mylapore Chennai Sri Ramakrishna Math p 10 ISBN 978 81 7823 542 4 a b c d e f g Harman William P 1992 The sacred marriage of a Hindu goddess Motilal Banarsidass pp 30 6 ISBN 978 81 208 0810 2 a b c Reynolds Bardwell 1987 pp 12 25 Edwin Francis Bryant 2007 Krishna A Sourcebook Oxford University Press pp 546 with note 45 ISBN 978 0 19 803400 1 T Padmaja 2002 Temples of Kr ṣṇa in South India History Art and Traditions in Tamilnaḍu Abhinav Publications pp 97 99 ISBN 978 81 7017 398 4 Thirunavukkarasar 2004 Aaram Thirumurai PDF Online Project Madurai pp 44 7 Campantar Tirumurai 1 2004 Moondram Thirumurai PDF Online Project Madurai p 61 Campantar Tirumurai 3 2004 Muthal Thirumurai PDF Online Project Madurai pp 56 8 Prentiss Karen Pechilis 1999 The embodiment of bhakti New York Oxford University Press p 43 ISBN 978 0 19 512813 0 Geiger Wilhelm 1912 THE GREAT CHRONICLE OF CEYLON Oxford University Press p 59 Zvelebil Kamil 1992 Companion studies to the history of Tamil literature BRILL p 27 ISBN 978 90 04 09365 2 Quintanilla Sonya Rhie 2007 History of Early Stone Sculpture at Mathura Ca 150 BCE 100 CE Concept Publishing Company p 2 ISBN 978 90 04 15537 4 Agarwal S K 2008 Towards Improving Governance Academic Foundation p 17 ISBN 978 81 7188 666 1 Mangudi Marudanar 2004 Mathuraikanchi PDF Online Project Madurai Gopal Madan 1990 K S Gautam ed India through the ages Publication Division Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Government of India p 181 a b c Bandopadhyay Manohar 2010 Tourist destinations in India Delhi Oriental Books pp 93 6 ISBN 978 93 80944 00 5 Nagarajan N Subramanian K eds 1977 History of Land Revenue Settlement and Abolition of Intermediary Tenures in Tamil Nadu Madras Government of Tamil Nadu p 473 no preview Dalal Roshen 1997 The Puffin History of India for Children 3000 BCE CE 1947 Puffin Books pp 128 129 ISBN 978 0 14 333544 3 Kersenboom Story Saskia C 1987 Nityasumaṅgali Devadasi Tradition in South India New Delhi Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited p 16 ISBN 978 81 208 1527 8 a b c Salma Ahmed Farooqui 2011 A Comprehensive History of Medieval India From Twelfth to the Mid Eighteenth century New Delhi Dorling Kindersley India Pvt Ltd p 26 ISBN 978 81 317 3202 1 Balasubrahmanyam Sirkali Ramaswamy 1979 Later Chola Temples Kulottunga I to Rajendra III A D 1070 1280 Faridabad Thomson Press pp 290 293 OCLC 888754347 no preview V Vriddhagirisan 1995 1942 Nayaks of Tanjore New Delhi Asian Educational Services p 115 ISBN 978 81 206 0996 9 Markovits Claude 2004 A History of Modern India 1480 1950 London Wimbledon Publishing Company p 253 ISBN 978 1 84331 152 2 B S Chandrababu S Ganeshram C Bhavani 2011 History of People and Their Environs Bharathi Puthakalayam p 582 ISBN 978 93 80325 91 0 King 2005 pp 73 75 Reynolds Bardwell 1987 p 18 Narasaiah 2009 Aalavai Madurai Managarathin Kadhai Palaniyappa Brothers p 85 ISBN 978 81 8379 517 3 a b Madurai Corporation citizen charter Madurai Corporation Archived from the original on 29 November 2012 Retrieved 22 August 2012 Imperial gazetteer of India Provincial series Volume 18 Clarendon Press 1908 pp 229 230 Gandhi Memorial Museum Madurai Bombay Sarvodaya Mandal Gandhi Book Centre Retrieved 22 August 2012 Kamat Research Database Biography N M R Subbaraman Kamat Research Database Retrieved 30 June 2012 David Arnold 1977 The Congress in Tamilnad nationalist politics in South India 1919 1937 Manohar p 128 ISBN 978 0 88386 958 1 More J B P 1977 Political Evolution of Muslims in Tamilnadu and Madras 1930 1947 Orient Blackswan p 106 ISBN 978 81 250 1192 7 Special postage stamp on freedom fighters and social reformers Press Information Bureau Government of India Deeds of a great social reformer remembered The Hindu 26 February 2011 Retrieved 30 June 2012 a b Overview of Madurai City Municipal Area Madurai Corporation Archived from the original on 29 May 2016 a b c d King 2005 p 72 Selby Martha Ann Peterson Indira Viswanathan 2008 Tamil geographies cultural constructions of space and place in South India New York State University of New York Press p 149 ISBN 978 0 7914 7245 3 TN Govt GO 220 PDF Government of Tamil Nadu Retrieved 21 August 2012 Maps Weather and Airports for Madurai India Falling Rain Genomics Inc Retrieved 15 June 2008 Madurai Corporation General information Madurai Corporation Archived from the original on 26 December 2008 Retrieved 22 August 2012 Imperial Gazetteer of India Volume 16 Clarendon Press 1908 p 404 Pletcher Kenneth 2011 The Geography of India Sacred and Historic Places New York Britannica Educational Publishing p 192 ISBN 978 1 61530 202 4 Department of Agriculture Madurai Corporation Archived from the original on 3 December 2012 Retrieved 30 June 2012 Annesley James 1841 Climate of Madura Researches into the causes nature and treatment of the more prevalent diseases of India London Longman Brown Green and Longmans Water year District ground water brochure Madurai district PDF Ministry of water resources Government of India 2007 Retrieved 22 August 2012 a b c Temperature is on an increasing trend in Madurai during summer The Hindu 21 April 2010 Archived from the original on 24 April 2010 Retrieved 30 June 2012 Climatology of Madurai Indian Meteorological Department 2011 Retrieved 11 April 2015 Climate Record highs and lows of Madurai PDF Indian Meteorological Department 2015 Archived from the original PDF on 16 March 2014 Retrieved 11 April 2015 Climate and monthly weather forecast Madurai India Weather Atlas Retrieved 19 July 2022 Singh Ujagir Dube Kamala Kant Singh Alok Kumar 1988 Urban environment in India problems and prospects Inter India Publications p 407 ISBN 978 81 210 0205 9 Hoiberg Dale ed 2000 Students Britannica India Vol 1 5 Popular Prakashan p 319 ISBN 9780852297605 Primary Census Abstract Census 2001 Directorate of census operations Tamil Nadu Archived from the original on 17 February 2011 Retrieved 29 June 2012 Census Info 2011 Final population totals Office of The Registrar General and Census Commissioner Ministry of Home Affairs Government of India 2013 Retrieved 26 January 2014 Primary Census Abstract Urban Agglomeration Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India Archived from the original XLS on 15 March 2016 Retrieved 13 October 2015 UAs having 1 million population Census 2011 Directorate of census operations Tamil Nadu Archived from the original XLS on 5 May 2015 Retrieved 29 June 2012 Agglomerations amp Cities Thomas Brinkhoff Retrieved 9 September 2013 Population By Religious Community Tamil Nadu XLS Office of The Registrar General and Census Commissioner Ministry of Home Affairs Government of India 2011 Archived from the original on 13 September 2015 Retrieved 13 September 2015 Harman 1992 pp 43 Thurston Edgar 1913 Provincial Geographies of India Vol 4 The Madras Presidency with Mysore Coorg and Associated States Cambridge University p 123 a b Catholic Diocese of Madurai Archdiocese of Madurai 2011 Retrieved 15 June 2008 Provincial Directory Madurai Ramnad Anglican Communion 2011 Retrieved 15 June 2008 Stanley Selwyn 2004 Social Problems Perspectives for Intervention Allied Publishers Private Limited p 631 ISBN 978 81 7764 708 2 City Development Plan of Madurai 2004 p 31 City Development Plan of Madurai 2004 p 43 Rajan Chellappa is Mayor The Hindu 22 October 2011 Retrieved 30 June 2012 New Commissioner for Corporation Madurai Today 2012 Archived from the original on 19 July 2012 Retrieved 30 June 2012 New Deputy Mayor elected The Hindu 19 May 2014 Retrieved 8 June 2014 a b c d e f List of Members Constituency name wise Government of Tamil Nadu 2011 Archived from the original on 6 October 2013 Retrieved 26 June 2012 Madurai South Assembly Constituency elections in Archived from the original on 23 May 2016 Retrieved 20 May 2016 a b Members of Lok Sabha from Tamil Nadu Government of Tamil Nadu 2014 Retrieved 26 May 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Madurai Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Madurai Official government website of Madurai District Tamilnadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry Madurai Portal India Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Madurai amp oldid 1130306481, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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