Madurai
Madurai is Known as Athens of the East. Madurai is a place of great historical and cultural importance. It is the oldest city in Tamil Nadu and Madurai lies on the banks of the River Vaigai. Madurai is one of the liveliest cities in South India. it was originally known as Kadambavanam or the \"forest of Kadamba\" or the Nauclea kadamba.
Legends says that Lord Shiva appeared in the dream on the king, Kulasekhara Pandya and the king was amazed to see drops of nectar or madhu falling down of earth from Lord Shiva\'s matted hair. The \"madhu\" was so sweet that the place where it fell came to be known as Madhurapuri, which in course of time became \"Madurai.\"
Tamil and Greek documents record its existence from the 4th century B.C. Being in the heart of Tamil Nadu, Madurai has fostered an essentially Dravidian and Tamil culture. Famous for its cultural and scholarly pursuits. The city had an academy consisting of critics, poets and savants highly esteemed both by kings and commoners. It was in Madurai that three successful conferences of Tamil scholars called sangams flourished under benevolent royal support.
Madurai is famous for housing one of the five traditional dance halls where Lord Siva in his form as the Silver Hall or the Velli Ambalam. It is situated within the Meenakshi Temple.
Meenakshi Koil Madurai was the capital of the dynasty. The Meenakshi-Sundareswarar Shrine is its central glory. The Muslims invaded Madurai in the 14th Century. Later it came under the rule of Thirumalai Nayak, who is remembered as the maker of modern Madurai an eventful one.
Madurai was known to be the centre of learning and pilgrimage for centuries. Today, Madurai is a modern commercial and industrial city with a vast University campus and is renowned for its weaving mills and dyeing industry. The chungadi cotton sarees are the speciality of this city with its colourful tie and dye motifs, handicrafts, brassware, bronze items and the famous wooden toys. Madurai are some of the notable artefacts. Madurai is 450 kms from Chennai.
