Madurai Tourism

Madurai is an energetic, ancient city on the Vaigai River in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Its skyline is dominated by the 14 colorful gopurams (gateway towers) of Meenakshi Amman Temple. Covered in bright carvings of Hindu gods, the Dravidian-style temple is a major pilgrimage site. Millions attend the processions and ceremonies of April's Chithirai Festival celebrating Meenakshi and Lord Vishnu.

Madurai was the seat of power of the Pandyan Empire. It was built by the Pandyan king Kulasekhara and was the capital city of the great Pandya kings of South India. It was later ruled by Cholas, Later Pandyas, Madurai Sultanate, Vijayanagara, Madurai Nayaks and finally British. Pandyas and Nayaks contributed enormously to the development of Meenakshi Amman Temple and Madurai city.
Meenakshi Amman Temple (known as Madhurai Meenakshi) is the biggest landmark of Madurai. It is one of the largest temples in India. The temple has a stunning architecture and a significant testimony for Vishwakarma Brahmins for their master architecture in sculpting this temple. The core city of Madurai is built parallel to the streets of Madhurai Temple.

Along with Meenakshi Temple, Thirumalai Nayak Mahal & Koodal Alagar Temple are other important places to visit in Madurai. Madurai is also a base station to visit Trichy, Thanjavur, Rameswaram and kodaikanal.
The Sangam period poet Nakkeerar is associated with some of the Tiruvilayaadal episodes of Sundareswarar - that are enacted as a part of temple festival traditions even today. Madurai has several bus stations. Most of the long distance buses and inter-state buses start from Mattuthavani Bus Terminus (8 km from Railway Station). Buses to Chennai, Bangalore, Trichy, Rameswaram, Thanjavur, Tirupathi, etc start from here. Arappalayam Bus Station is another major bus station (3 km from Railway Station) with connectivity to Kodaikanal, Palani, Theni, Dundigal, etc. Periyar bus station near Railway station is the hub for local city buses.