Madurai

Madurai (Tamil: மதுரை, [mɐd̪ɯrəj]; formerly Madura) is the third largest city, in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu with a population of over 1.2 million (census2001). It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The city is the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. Madurai served as the capital of the Pandyan Kingdom and is famous for its temples built by Pandyan and Madurai Nayak kings in the Dravidian style of architecture. It is also one of India's most prominent Hindu pilgrimage centres. Madurai is also called as City of Junction (Koodal nagaram), City of Jasmine (Malligai maanagar), Temple city (Koil maanagar), City that never sleeps (Thoonga nagaram) and City of four junctions (Naanmada...