Madurai is one of the biggest cities of Tamil Nadu and is the second largest municipal corporation in the state. It is one of the ancient cities of India that was inhabited two million years ago. This served as the seat of the Tamil empires namely Nayak dynasty and Pandya dynasty. Madurai served as their capital city and the city is noted for its Meenakshi Amman Temple that depicts the Dravidian style of architecture. As there are many Hindu temples located here, it is one of the important pilgrimage centers in India. So many pilgrims as well as tourists visit Madurai all round the year.
Madurai has a prominent place in the history of South India and it was called by various names as Thoonga Nagaram, Koodal Nagaram and Naanmaadakkoodal. In the time of Pandya Kings Tamil literature flourished here and Tamil scholars and poets were hailed and held in high esteem. All these heritage of Madurai has made it an interesting city to visit. There are many historic places of visit here that attract tourist population.
Madurai Meenakshi Temple with its four immense gopurams in each direction offers a majestic sight. There is a Pottramaraikkulam here that is open to all. The temple has many halls in various names and shrines of Meenakshi, Sundareswarar and other gods and goddesses. Some other holy places near Madurai are Koodal Azhagar Temple, Thiruparankundram, Alagar Temple, etc.
Some of the places of visit in the city are Thirumalai Nayak Palace, Gandhi Museum, Kazimar Big Mosque and Maqbara, Vandiyur Mariamman Theppakkulam and Goripalayam Dargah. Thirumalai Nayak Palace was built in 17th century by the then ruler Thirumalai Nayak who had an important role in the construction of the popular Meenakshi Temple. This palace has two portions namely Swargavilasa and Ranga Vilasa. Every evening the light and sound show depicting the history of Silappathikaram is conducted here both in English and Tamil languages.
There is a high influx of students’ community also due to the presence of many high class educational institutions like Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai Medical College, Thiagarajar College of Engineering and Madurai Agricultural College. Obviously they look out for some comfortable places to stay. So there are many luxury as well as budget hotels located in all parts of the city. The exponential growth in the business sector, banking sector and industrial sector has led to the growth of hotel industry side by side.
You can find good hotels in Madurai in and around the temple and near railway station. If you are looking for luxury hotels then you can find some good ones in Alagar Koil Road. The cuisine of Madurai has the true tastes of Tamil people. It has its unique food items like paruthi paal, jigarthanda and panangalkandu paal. The varieties like appam, kuzhi paniyaram and malligaippoo idlis will melt into your mouth. Refer the right Madurai travel guide and choose the good Madurai hotels and Madurai restaurants to make your visit memorable in this temple city.