Tamil Nadu Intelligence by Dinamalar
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Dinamalar

Southern Tamil Nadu

Madurai

Headquarters: Madurai

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30,38,252
Population
Census 2011
3,710 km²
Area
83.45%
Literacy
Census 2011
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Overview

Madurai, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and a historic capital of the Pandya kingdom, is the principal city and district of southern Tamil Nadu. At the 2011 Census the district had a population of 3,038,252 across 3,710 sq km, with an effective literacy of 83.45%. Built on the banks of the Vaigai river and centred on the Meenakshi Amman Temple, Madurai is often called the 'Temple City' and the 'Athens of the East'. It functions as the commercial, cultural and educational hub for the entire southern region of the state.

Economy

Madurai's economy combines a large agrarian hinterland with trade, textiles and a growing services sector. It is a major wholesale and retail trading centre for southern Tamil Nadu and is famous for cotton handloom weaving, including its distinctive Sungudi sarees, and for the GI-tagged Madurai Malli (jasmine), which is exported worldwide. Temple tourism around the Meenakshi Amman Temple is a significant economic engine, and the city hosts an emerging IT sector anchored by TIDEL Park Madurai, along with automobile-component and rubber industries.

AgricultureTextiles and handloomTourismTrade and commerceInformation technologyAutomobile components

Tourism

Madurai is one of India's great heritage-tourism destinations, dominated by the towering, sculpture-covered gopurams of the Meenakshi Amman Temple, which draws millions of pilgrims and visitors each year. The 17th-century Thirumalai Nayakkar Mahal, the Gandhi Memorial Museum, the Vaigai Dam and the hilltop Alagar Koyil and Thiruparankundram shrines complete the circuit. The city's night-time temple ceremonies and bustling old-town markets are experiences in themselves.

Temples & heritage

The Arulmigu Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple, dedicated to the goddess Meenakshi and Lord Sundareswarar (Shiva), is Madurai's heart — a vast twin-shrine complex famed for its fourteen gopurams, the Hall of a Thousand Pillars and the Golden Lotus Tank. The Thiruparankundram Murugan Temple, one of the six sacred abodes (Arupadai Veedu) of Lord Murugan, and the Koodal Azhagar Perumal and Alagar Koyil temples are other principal shrines. The annual Chithirai festival, marking the celestial wedding of Meenakshi, is among the largest temple festivals in India.

Infrastructure

Madurai is a major transport hub, served by Madurai International Airport, Madurai Junction (one of the busiest railway stations in the south) and a web of National Highways radiating to Chennai, Tiruchirappalli, Tirunelveli and Theni. The city has a municipal corporation — one of the oldest in Tamil Nadu — and hosts an AIIMS institute under development at Thoppur. The Vaigai Dam supplies irrigation and drinking water to the district.

Education & healthcare

Madurai is a long-established educational centre, home to Madurai Kamaraj University, the historic Madurai Medical College, Thiagarajar College of Engineering, and the American College and Thiagarajar College. These institutions, together with numerous professional and research colleges, make the city the higher-education capital of southern Tamil Nadu.

Gallery

The pillared Durbar Hall of Thirumalai Nayakkar Mahal
The pillared Durbar Hall of Thirumalai Nayakkar Mahal · 📷 N. Vivekananthamoorthy, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Sculpted gopurams of the Meenakshi Amman Temple
Sculpted gopurams of the Meenakshi Amman Temple · 📷 Kumar Appaiah, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons
A towering gopuram of the Meenakshi Amman Temple, Madurai
A towering gopuram of the Meenakshi Amman Temple, Madurai · 📷 Maddy lens, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Videos

Meenakshi Amman & the Marvel of Madurai (Documentary)

Sources & references

Source: Census of India 2011 (via census2011.co.in); Data note