Overview
- Main Attractions: Meenakshi Temple, Thirumalai Nayak Palace
- Best Time to Visit: Late October to early March
- Local Specialty: Temple
- Travelled By: Train, Foot
- Cost: $$
- Duration of Stay: 1 day
- Location: Tamil Nadu, India
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Summary
While the star attraction of Madurai is the Meenakshi Temple, there are other places in the city that are worth inspecting such as Thirumalai Nayak Palace. Of course, it is Madurai itself that steals your soul with its enigmatic beauty, quiet spirituality and positive karma.
Madurai: Our Experience
7th December 2013 (Day 1)
An overnight train from Mysore brought us into Madurai the next morning at 7:30. We were here for one day only just to see the famous South Indian temple, Meenakshi Temple. We checked into our hotel, Kathir Palace located right in front of Meenakshi Temple.
After a nice hot shower we headed to the hotel restaurant for a lovely South Indian breakfast. Here, we were allowed to choose from an a-la-carte menu, so Graham had a Masala Dosa while I tried an Onion Uttapam.
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The Masala Dosa was a bit flat which means that it wasn’t crunchy which is how a dosa should be when it is freshly cooked. Nevertheless, the dosa was quite tasty especially when eaten with the accompaniments of sambar, coconut chutney and tomato chutney. The potato filling had a good amount of spices to it making it quite delicious.
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The Onion Uttapam was hot and fresh so it was crunchy on the outside but soft on the inside. I usually like my Uttapams with tomatoes and onions however I didn’t have this option here so the uttapam could have tasted better. In spite of this, it was a lovely and filling breakfast.
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After breakfast, we took a walk around the outside of the temple complex and watched the daily life go about their business. Of course, the entire city centre of Madurai is geared around the temple so most of the people were heading to the temple for their morning prayers. There were a lot of pilgrims from other Indian towns who had made the journey to pray and provide offerings inside the temple.
There are also a lot of small shanty houses built around the temple complex so women were out in the morning filling up buckets of water at the nearby tube well. In India, this is a very common method of water collection as water is not easily accessible in homes located in the smaller suburban cities. Also, since the water comes from deep underground it is fresh and clean and makes for great drinking water. It is also a great place to catch up on the local gossip transferred from one woman to another as they fill water at the tube well.
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After a stroll through the city streets we made our way to Meenakshi Temple with much anticipation. Unfortunately, unknown to us, we were not allowed to take in cameras, phones or bags of any kind so we had to return to our hotel and leave everything behind. Our second attempt allowed us to get through security only after we had taken off our shoes at the entrance.
Once we walked in, I was surprised at how big the temple complex was. From outside, we could only see one gopuram (gate) at any one time so I assumed that the one gopuram was the size of the temple. Once inside, we realised that there are 12 gopurams that surround the temple complex with a two main shrines in the centre – dedicated to Meenakshi and her husband Shiva. It looked like an independent village on the inside where people went about their business like clockwork and shops catered to the needs of the worshippers. It was an incredible space that had a strong vibe of spirituality, peace and harmony. Unfortunately, not being Hindus, there were several areas that were off limits unless we paid a significant amount of money which were not willing to do. Nevertheless, we were able to see most of the important sections which are detailed in our Meenakshi Temple post.
The ceiling paintings, sculptures and carvings were splendidly beautiful. The Temple Art Museum was also insightful especially the exhibition of Neolithic and Microlithic tools from India. We could see why the Meenakshi Temple is considered to be the most beautiful temple in India and compared to the Taj Mahal of South India.
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When we emerged from the temple, we noticed a lady selling coconuts at the side of the road. The coconuts looked different to what we were used to in North India which were green; however, these ones were orange in colour. So we decided to try one to find out the difference.
The orange coconut, only available in parts of South India, is actually sweeter than its green counterpart. Also, it has a lot more coconut flesh on the inside so the lovely lady broke it open with her machete. We were surprised by her strength as she was able to break open the coconut so easily but I guess she’s probably being doing this job for several years.
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In the afternoon we walked down the road for about two kilometres to Thirumalai Nayak Palace, the ruins of the once impressive and magnificent 17th century palace of the Nayaka kings. In its heyday, this palace was considered to be one of the wonders of the South. The power and wealth of the Nayakas is evident from the remains of this once grand palace.
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Returning back to town, we sat down at Amritsagar to try out a North Indian snack called Dahi Puri.
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Originating from the city of Mumbai, this dish is made with mini puffed flour shells broken on top and partially filled with mashed potatoes and chickpeas which are flavoured with spices and chilli powder. Sweet tamarind chutney and spicy coriander chutney are poured on top of the potato stuffing. This is followed by sweetened beaten yoghurt which is generously poured over the top, and finally garnished with sprinklings of sev, moong dal and chopped coriander leaves.
As with most Indian street food snacks, this dish tasted so good it was hard sharing it with Graham.
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In the evening, we stepped out in search of a nice spot for dinner. We wanted to try something different and were a bit tired of eating rather bland South Indian food. So when we spotted Ko Kho Restaurant on Town Hall Road, we knew we had to try it. What we liked about this restaurant was their new spin on cooking traditional Tamil food. In spite of using no oil in their cooking process, their dishes tasted amazing and had so much flavour. This new eatery in Madurai is setting standards for healthy eating in India.
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While walking around the streets earlier, we had noticed a popular Indian sweet shop called Bombay Sweets that was filled with locals buying Indian sweets by the kilo. So after dinner we stopped by for a taste of a few Indian sweets that looked fresh and interesting. The jalebis looked appetising as did the halwa so we tried a bit of each. With the variety and quality of Indian sweets available everywhere, we were getting accustomed to having a couple of Indian sweets after every dinner; that’s exactly the Indian diet so why not copy them – “When in Rome do as the Romans do”.
The following morning we were catching a bus to Kodaikanal, the “Princess of the Hill Stations” in South India. This was the end of our one day visit to Madurai. We had seen what we had come to see and more. The Meenakshi Temple was incredible although we were a little disappointed at not being able to visit certain areas inside the temple, as well as not being able to take our cameras or phones inside. Nevertheless, the temple was impressive especially the 12 gopurams that colour the skyline of Madurai as far as the eye can see. As a bonus, we also got to see the Thirumalai Nayak Palace which was a surprise in itself as to how incredibly beautiful it is in spite of being in ruins. However, it is the city itself that steals your soul with its enigmatic beauty, quiet spirituality and positive karma.
