Madurai

Madurai is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It acts as the state’s cultural capital and serves as the administrative headquarters of Madurai district. The Madurai Municipal Corporation, which governs the city, was established on 1 November 1866. According to the 2011 census, Madurai is the third most populous metropolis in Tamil Nadu, behind Chennai and Coimbatore, and ranks as the 27th largest urban agglomeration in India. The city lies along the banks of the Vaigai River and has been a significant settlement for two millennia, with a documented history spanning over 2,500 years. It is commonly called "Thoongaa Nagaram," meaning "the city that never sleeps."

Madurai is among the oldest cities in India and South Asia. The third Tamil Sangam, a major gathering of Tamil scholars during the Pandyan dynasty, is said to have taken place here. The city’s recorded history reaches back to the 3rd century BCE, with mentions by Megasthenes, the Greek ambassador to the Mauryan Empire, and Kautilya, a minister of the Mauryan emperor Chandragupta Maurya. Excavations by the Archeological Survey of India at Keezhadi and Manalur have uncovered evidence of human settlements and Roman trade links dating to 300 BCE. Over the centuries, Madurai has been ruled by the Pandyan Kingdom, the Chola Empire, the Madurai Sultanate, the Vijayanagar Empire, the Madurai Nayaks, the Carnatic kingdom, and the British East India Company’s British Raj. The city contains numerous historical monuments, most notably the Koodal Azhagar temple, the Meenakshi Temple, and the Thirumalai Nayakkar Mahal.

Madurai is an important industrial and educational hub in Tamil Nadu. It hosts industries related to automobiles, rubber, chemicals, and granite manufacturing. Key government educational institutions include Madurai Medical College, the Homeopathic Medical College, Madurai Law College, the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (Madurai Campus), Kamaraj University, and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Madurai. The city covers an area of 147.97 square kilometers (57.13 square miles) and had a population of 1,470,755 in 2011. The second bench of the Madras High Court is located in Madurai. It is one of the towns and cities selected for the AMRUT mission by the Government of India, and the Government of Tamil Nadu contributes to its infrastructure development.

Regarding its name, a 2nd-century BCE Tamil-Brahmi inscription, according to Iravatham Mahadevan, refers to the city as *matiray*, an Old Tamil word meaning "walled city." Madurai, also known as Kadambavanam, is one of many historic temple towns in India named after the groves or forests that shelter the presiding deity; it is believed to have originally been a forest of Kadamba trees. Other names for the city include "Koodal," "Malligai Maanagar," "Naanmadakoodal," and "Thirualavai." The name Madurai is thought to derive from *Marutham*, a term for the landscape type of the Sangam age. Nearby towns include Vada Madurai (North Madurai) in Dindigul district and Manamadurai in Sivaganga district. Historical names for the city are listed in the 7th-century poem *Thiruvilayaadal Puraanam* by Paranjothi Munivar. Vaishnava texts refer to Madurai as the "southern Mathura," similar to Tenkasi (southern Kashi). "Koodal" means an assembly or congregation of scholarly people, referencing the three Tamil Sangams held there. "Naanmadakoodal," meaning the junction of four towers, refers to four major temples for which Madurai was known. Sangam literature mentions the Koodal Azhagar temple at the city’s center, with historians believing it appears in works like *Madurai Kanchi* by Mangudi Marudan, *Paripāṭal*, *Kaliththokai*, and *Silappatikaram*. *Madurai Kanchi* details the Thiruvonam festival celebrated at the temple. The Koodal Azhagar temple is revered in the *Nalayira Divya Prabhandam* (5th–9th century Vaishnava canon) by Periyalvar, Thirumalisai Alvar, and Thirumangai Alvar, and is classified as a Divya Desam, one of 108 Vishnu temples mentioned in the book. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the temple appears in works like *108 Tirupathi Anthathi* by Divya Kavi Pillai Perumal Aiyangar and *Koodal Sthala Purana*. The *Tevaram* (7th- or 8th-century Tamil compositions on Shiva by the Nayanars Appar, Sundarar, and Thirugnanasambandar) addresses the city as Thirualavai.

Madurai is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities of Tamil Nadu, dating to the 3rd century BCE. The Sangam period settlement site of Keeladi, dating to the 6th century BCE, lies about 12 kilometers southeast of Madurai. Inscriptions of the Pandya king Netunceliyan I (c. 2nd century BCE) are found in Mangulam, 25 kilometers from the city. The second book of the Tamil epic *Silappatikaram* (c. 5th century CE) is set in Madurai. Megasthenes may have visited during the 3rd century BCE, referring to the city as "Methora," though some scholars contest this, believing "Methora" refers to Mathura in northern India. Madurai is also mentioned in Kautilya’s *Arthashastra* (370–283 BCE). Sangam literature like *Maturaikkāñci* records its importance as the Pandyan capital. The city appears in the works of Roman historians Pliny the Younger (61 – c. 112 CE), Ptolemy (c. 90 – c. 168 CE), the Greek geographer Strabo (64/63 BCE – c. 24 CE), and the *Periplus of the Erythraean Sea*. The Buddhist text *Mahav* also references it.