Photogallery of Madurai, India

India is famous for its marvelous temple city of Madurai that is situated in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. This settlement is considered the oldest continuously inhabited city in India. Madurai has become internationally famous after the building of the Meenakshi Temple. Why is this city often referred to as “the temple city”? There is a shrine on almost every street here. Besides that, the city’s territory is full of numerous cafes and restaurants. Because of this peculiarity, Madurai is also famous as the city that never sleeps. Local streets remain active and crowded both in the daytime and at night. First settlers in the territory of modern Madurai appeared yet in the third millennia BC. Various manuscripts mentioned this settlement as the capital of the ancient kingdom of Pandya. At the beginning of the 9th century, the Chola dynasty added this Indian city to their territories. Madurai became an independent city in 1559. However, Chanda Sahib captured the settlement already in the 30s of the 18th century. After him, the nawab of the Carnatik and Muhammed Yusuf became the rulers of the city. All these leaders changed one another in just one century. The British East India Company established its control over Madurai in 1801. It added the city to the Madras Presidency. This event marked the start of the city’s development as a political and industrial center. At that time, Madurai became the capital of a district with the same name. The British … Read further