For our three-night stay in Madurai, one of the oldest cities in India, we opted to pay a little more than usual for our accommodation. We had no idea what would face us at our next stop, a Workaway volunteer project, so we wanted to have all the comforts before we got there! We weren’t disappointed with our choice – our 5th floor room at The Madurai Residency afforded magnificent views of the city, and the rooftop restaurant served delicious food, so much so that we didn’t eat anywhere else!
Madurai felt like a much more manageable city than Chennai or Bangalore and we enjoyed wandering the streets and soaking up the atmosphere.
Whilst we were there, we followed the recommendation of our Lonely Planet guidebook and had some shirts made at the Pudhu Mandapa. This 16th century pillared hall is filled with colourful textile stalls and rows of tailors, seated at sewing machines, stitching away from morning until night. All of the activity and colour hides the stunning architecture of the building and you have to force yourself to look up to notice the lovely sculptures. We had copies made of shirts we particularly like and found the service to be quick and efficient and the finished articles to be of excellent quality. We would definitely recommend it!
The main attraction in Madurai, though, is undoubtedly the Meenakshi Amman Temple, built largely between 1623 and 1659. According to our guidebook, ‘It is considered by many to be the height of South Indian temple architecture, as vital to the aesthetic heritage of this region as the Taj Mahal is to North India.’ It is certainly impressive! It is a huge complex, but much of it is out of bounds to non-Hindus. We found it rather strange that cameras are not allowed (we had to leave them outside the temple complex), yet you can take as many pictures as you like using mobile phones! We also found the abundance of souvenir stalls within the temple somewhat tacky!
We also visited the Gandhi Memorial Museum which is housed in a 17th century Nayak queen’s palace. It is extremely well laid out, with comprehensive story boards giving the full history not only of Gandhi’s life and times, but also of India’s struggle for independence from 1600 onwards. You cannot help but be moved by the accounts of individual and collective suffering. The onsite bookshop has a wealth of accessible material on Gandhi, by Gandhi, and about and by other inspirational Indian figures.
We thoroughly enjoyed our few days of rest, good food and culture in Madurai and felt ready to face whatever was to come next!
Join our mailing list
Sign up to receive our monthly newsletter. Keep up with what we're doing and be the first to receive special offers and insider tips.
wonderful post. I read so far. thanks for sharing this post.In your post pictures are so beautiful .