Madurai city (மதுரை மாநகர்) - Origin & History

Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple (The heart of Madurai)

Madurai (ÁШÃ) is an ancient situated at the banks of river Vaigai. The city was the capital city of the Pandya dynasty. It is the third largest city in Tamil Nadu. It was an important center for Tamil development. Madurai's cultural heritage goes back 2,500 years, and the city has been an important commercial center and has conducted trade as far as Rome and Greece since as early as 550 BCE. The city is popularly known as the “Temple City”. It is also known as the city of Jasmine ( ÁøÄ¢¨¸ Á¡É¸Ãõ) , city of festivals( ¾¢ÕŢơ ¿¸Ãõ) and sleepless city (àí¸¡ ¿¸Ãõ).

Vaigai river

The world famous Alanganallur Jallikattu (Bull Fight) is conducted here each year during Pongal.

History

Madurai has a very long and well recorded history. Madurai was the capital city of ancient Southern civilization. The city has been variously referred to as "Madurai", "Koodal" (or Koodal Nagar) and "Thirvalavai" (or Alavai). Many theories have been suggested for the name Madurai. Many theories have been suggested for the name Madurai.

Legend has it that the present day city of Madurai was a forest called Kadambavanam (Forest filled with Kadamba trees) at the banks of river Vaigai. There was a Lingam in the forest under a Kadamba tree. Dananjayan, a wood cutter had seen Lord Indra worshipping the lingam in the forest and informed the pandian king Kulasekara Pandiyan.

The pious king ordered the forest to be cleared and a temple (Meenakshi Sundareswar Temple) erected around the Lingam. Soon a city was planned with the temple at the center. Concentric rectangular streets surround the temple, symbolizing the structure of the cosmos. The entire city is laid out in the shape of a lotus. . Some of these rectangular streets are named after Tamil months. The six major rectangular streets around Meenakshi temple are Chittirai, Aadi, Aavani Moola, Maasi, Maarat and Veli streets. This gave rise to the present day Madurai. It is said that Lord Shiva visited the city when the temple was being built and a drop of honey fell from his hair. Hence, the name Madurai (from ‘mathuram’ ÁÐÃõ, meaning sweetness in Tamil).

As early as the 3rd century BC, Megasthenes visited Madurai. The city is also mentioned in Kautilya’s (Chanakya’s) Arthasashtra. Madurai has been described as the seat of the Pandya Dynasty in Sangam literature. The city is also described extensively in the Second century CE epic Silapathikaram. Madurai finds mention in the works of Roman historians Pliny the Younger and Ptolemy and those of the Greek geographer Strabo.

Madurai was conquered by the Cholas during early 9th century and remained under their control till the early 13th century, when the second Pandyan empire was established with Madurai as its capital. After the death of the last Pandyan ruler Kulasekara Pandiyan, Madurai came under the rule of the Delhi Sulthanate and functioned as an independent kingdom till its destruction by the Vijayanagar empire in 1378.

Thirumalai Nayakar Mahal

Madurai became independent from Vijayanagar in 1559 under the Nayaks. From 1764 to 1801 the city remained under the control of the Nawab of Arcot.

In 1801 the British East India Company took direct control of Madurai and brought it under the Madras Presidency. Post-independence, the city has expanded particularly to the north of river Vaigai by the development of new residential neighborhoods like Anna Nagar and K. K. Nagar. In 1971 it was constituted as a Municipal Corporation. Currently Madurai remains the most important and populous city in Southern Tamil Nadu.

Madurai and Tamil:

Tamil flourished under various south Indian kings who greatly patronized Tamil scholars and poets. Madurai was the seat of the Third Tamil sangam (between 300 BCE and 200 CE) (The works of both first and second Tamil sangam has been lost). The sangam period is the Golden age of the Tamil language. Great epics and masterpieces were produced.