At a glance A gently sloping land that lies on either side of the dry Vaigai River, stretching from north-west to south-east.
About the city The highpoint of visits to temple cities is Madurai. Spread along the rocky banks of the river Vaigai in the state of Tamil Nadu, the modern industrial city's main claim to fame is as a temple town. Whether you come by air, train or road, the first glimpse of the city that greets you are the magnificent gopurams of the Meenakshi Temple. The temple, spread across six hectares, is at the hub of all the activities in the city. The festivities, processions and grandeur of the temples attract tourist in the thousands every year. There are several places of tourist attractions in Madurai, but it is the Meenakshi Temple that is the hub of activity. Located at the heart of the city, the Meenakshi-Sundareswarar temple has long been the focus of both Indian and international tourist attraction as well as one of the most important places of Hindu pilgrimage. It is the hub of the religious and cultural life of the city.
How to reach By Air Hall Of Thousand Pillar Madurai has its own airport, located 12 km from the city center. There are daily flights to Chennai and twice a day flights to Mumbai. By Rail Regular trains connect Madurai to Coimbatore, Chennai, Rameswaram, Kanyakumari and other towns of South India. The Madurai Railway Station is within the city center. By Road Madurai is very well connected by a network of roads and road transport to all major towns of Tamil Nadu and surrounding areas.
Distances 477 km South West from Chennai 452 km South East from Bangalore From Chennai NH45 to Dindigul via Tindivanam, Tiruchirappalli and Vadamadurai NH7 to Madurai via Mettur Alternative route from Trichy NH45B to Madurai via Viralimalai, Kottampatti and Melur.
Best Seasons Oct-Mar. Catch Pongal festivities in Jan and the Chithirai Festival in April-May. Winters are the best season to visit the city, the months from October to March being the ideal period. The daytime temperature is around 20°C during this period making the days pleasant for all excursions. The summers can get very hot with the mercury hovering around the 40
Places in and around Music in the veins When saint-composer Muthuswami Dikshitar knew his end was near, he asked his disciples to sing Meenakshi memudam dehi (Meenakshi, liberate me), his gem composition in the Raga Gamakakriya. This was in 1834. Madurai's links to Carnatic music remain strong even now. If Madurai Mani Iyer and Madurai Somu were revered vocalists, the M in national nightingale Bharat Ratna M.S. (Madurai Shanmugavadivu) Subbalakshmi comes from the city of Meenakshi too. An evening of music in Madurai is highly recommended. For more information on concerts, approach the travel desk of your hotel, or check your morning paper. You can see Madurai in two days or more, depending how much and how far you want to experience Tamil Nadu's second largest city. Madurai's temple architecture exhibits a seamless synergy of the distinctive aesthetics of its rulers. If the Pandya rulers (till 1334 AD) gave it its majestic towers, the Vijayanagara kings (1377-1560 AD) added decorated monolithic pillars and the Nayaks (1600-1750 AD) large prakarams (circumambulatory paths) and splendid pillared halls.