Madurai

India with its traditional and diversified culture stands unique in the south of Asia and attracts many visitors from abroad. Nearly 19 languages are spoken in India. Though Hinduism is the main religion, others like Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism, Christianity, Islam and Judaism are also practiced. India has the second largest population in the world, which recently crossed the 1 billion mark. There are numerous places of interest in India. India saturates the senses, from the tropical backwaters to the towering Himalayan peaks.

Tamil Nadu, situated in Southern India is the home of Dravidian art and culture, characterized by the amazingly ornate temples with their soaring towers known as ‘gopurams’. Chennai, (Madras) ‘The Gateway to South’, is the state capital.

Madurai, probably over 2, 500 years old, is the oldest city in Tamil Nadu. Its origin and name emerge from the myths of a lovely legend.

In a forest near the lotus pond, Indra, King of Gods, worshipped Lord Siva as a Swayambu Lingam. At this hallowed spot the Pandiyan monarch, Kulasekhra, built a great temple and by clearing the forest, created a lotus-shaped city around the temple. The city was henceforth known as ‘Madhurapuri’. Madhurapuri grew and prospered to become the capital of the Pandiyan Kingdom. It is referred to in the Ramayana and in Kautila’s Arthasashtra. Foreign travellers of ancient times also had heard of it.

Madurai lies on the banks of the river Vaigai. The temple and the old city are on the southern bank, while modern Madurai with its textile mills; engineering and large university sprawl around.

Travel To Madurai

• BY AIR: Chennai, is the closest international airport to Madurai, and even if your port of entry is not Chennai, we advise you to get to Madurai through Chennai. There are four airlines flying between Madurai (IXM), and Chennai (MAA). These are Air Deccan, Jet Airways, Paramount Airways and Indian Airways.

• BY RAIL: Madurai is an important railway junction of the Southern Railway and is directly connected to Chennai, Coimbatore and Tirunelveli. It is advisable to make a reservation on these trains, at least a week in advance. Be aware that Chennai has two railroad junctions – trains to Madurai depart from the Egmore Station.

• If you need a place to rest while waiting for your train, or even overnight, the Hotel Regent close to the Egmore Station has rooms for only 200 rupees, and is safe and clean. Bring your own towel and bathroom tissue.

• There are signs at the railway junction telling you which platform to wait on for your train, and where to stand so you will be close to the car your ticket is booked for. If in doubt, ask one of the attendants.

• Railway seats can be booked in advance or cancelled over the internet. Please see this web page to see the current train timings: www.srailway.com additional assistance can be provided by your contact person at Aravind.

• BY ROAD: You may also decide to take the road from Chennai to Madurai. You could take an overnight bus or rent a taxi and ride down.

Getting to Aravind once you Arrive in Madurai
You can get to Aravind from the airport, train station, or bus terminal either by Taxi or Auto rickshaw – just ask for “Aravind Eye Hospital”.
- Typical autorickshaw fare from the airport will be around 300 rupees.
- Typical autorickshaw fare from the train station will be around 50 rupees.
- Typical taxi fare from the airport will be between 350 and 400 rupees. Prepaid taxi service is available at Madurai Airport.
Note: Transportation will not be provided by Aravind unless specified earlier.

Important Madurai Phone Numbers
• Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai : 0452 – 43 56 100
• LAICO : 0452 – 43 56 500
• Harmony Guest House : 0452 – 252 1364
Note: When calling one of the operators, please tell the receptionist who your contact person at Aravind is, so she will be able to connect you to the right person.

Restaurants
Indian food is generally spicy. However, Continental and Chinese food are also available. Make it a point to specify if you would like your meal to be made less spicy. A wide variety of both vegetarian and non-vegetarian foods are available at most hotels.

Restaurants near the Aravind complex, Madurai
• Amaravathi Hotel within walking distance of the hospital has a multicuisine restaurant.
• Meenakshi Bhavan near the Anna bus stand (a few blocks from LAICO) offers a wide range of traditional South Indian vegetarian food
• Rajeswari Hotel and Hotel Annapoorna near LAICO serve good non-vegetarian and vegetarian dishes
• Fortune Pandyan’s ‘Orchid’ restaurant offers a delicious spread at its lunch and dinner buffets. It also has a pastry shop during the day.
• Hotel Sangam: Besides its multi-cuisine restaurant, it has opened up ‘Athangudi’ which serves authentic South Indian dishes.
• Hot Breads near the KK Nagar Arch, offers baked foods, soups and a variety of more western style foods.
• Café Coffee Day: Located opposite the Golcha Complex on “80 ft. road”, in Anna Nagar Coffee day serves fresh cappuccino and snacks and is open until 11 pm.

Restaurants in Downtown Madurai
• The Supreme Hotel, near the railway station, has a roof-top vegetarian restaurant that provides a good view of the temple.
• The Park Plaza Hotel, near the railway station, also has a roof-top restaurant, and offers a non-vegetarian menu as well.
• Hotel Anna Meekashi, near College House, is a vegetarian multi-cuisine restaurant.
• Bell Hotel, an out-door multi-cuisine non-vegetarian eatery located on Tamil Sangam road near Simmakal.
• The Taj Garden Retreat, atop a hillock, offers a 5-star eating experience with a spectacular view of the entire Madurai city at night.

Places of Worship

Temples
In the temple city of Madurai, you’ll find a temple on virtually every street. They vary greatly in size and architecture and house different deities. You will be asked to remove your shoes and socks before entering a temple. A storage place is usually available nearby – when you get your shoes back, a two-rupee tip is generally appreciated. Cameras may not be permitted inside some temples, and at others you need to purchase a “camera pass”. If in doubt, ask. The following list will give you an idea of a few of the major temples (See the section on “Sightseeing” for additional descriptions):

- Meenakshi Amman Temple
- Alagar Koil is located 20 km from Madurai at the foothills of Alagar Malai.
- Surya Nagar – a fascinating temple found about 7km south of Madurai, located on Alagar Koil Road, about 1/3 of the way to Alagar Koil.
- Thirumohur Temple about 10 km north of Madurai. The main deity is Lord Vishnu.
- Thirupparankundram, 6 km southwest of Madurai.
- Pandian Temple, located about 5km east of Madurai.

Mosques
There is a small mosque about a five-minute walk from LAICO. Larger mosques are found near the Goripalayam junction and one in K.K Nagar, near to Wakf Board College.

Churches
Madurai has many churches. At the beautiful and historic St. Mary’s Cathedral masses are held every Sunday, although in Tamil. Sunday services in English are also held at the quaint American College chapel. Regular 7:30 am and 6:00 pm communion mass can be attended at the pretty church of Divine Patience in the Railway Colony, also in English. There are various other churches, such as the large Lutheran Church near the railway station and the Pentecostal church at KK Nagar.

Buddhist Prayer Hall
- There is a Buddhist prayer hall within the Gandhi Museum campus.

Meditation Halls
Meditation rooms at all the Aravind Buildings are always open. There is one on the first floor of the paying section of the hospital and one on the ground floor at LAICO.

Leisure Time
Movies
• The Tamil film industry is one of the largest in the world. Most Tamil films are musicals and are two-and-a-half hours long. Film-going is very popular in Tamil Nadu and a number of theatres are located near the Aravind campus.
• Most of the theatres are air-conditioned. Ask for ‘balcony’ class for the most comfortable seats.
• English movies are rarely screened.
• Check the local paper (The Hindu) for reviews and what’s showing. The Cine-Priya Theatre Complex located just a few blocks from Aravind Hospital usually shows good movies.
• Movies are shown in two parts, with a brief intermission to give you time to get refreshments or use the rest rooms.

Swimming
• Hotel Sangam, on Alagar Koil Road has a small swimming pool with sun beds. They charge Rs.100 for a day.
• The Taj Garden Retreat Hotel is a Rs.120 – rickshaw journey out of town provides a spectacular view over the whole of Madurai in a very peaceful setting. The hotel has a swimming pool, which costs Rs.300 for the day and includes towels, changing facilities and showers.
• The Fortune Pandyan has a swimming pool, though quite small.
• The Madurai Corporation maintains a swimming pool near the Gandhi Museum. Tickets can be purchased at the entrance.

Yoga
For early risers there are Yoga classes held at 6:00 am each morning at the Swami Sivananda Yoga Centre just opposite LAICO on Sathar Road. Classes are held from Monday through Saturday, for an hour and a half and cost Rs.150 per month.

Shopping

Shopping in Madurai is a whole new experience. The streets around the Meenakshi Amman temple are jammed with shops. Madurai markets, many of which are located on narrow streets, can be overwhelmingly noisy and crowded. Small shops selling the same wares are often grouped together in the same area. You will need to bargain in most smaller shops where there isn’t a fixed price. Books and cotton clothes are cheap. Madurai is also a good place for local crafts.

Clothes Shopping in Madurai
• If you are looking for traditional Indian wear, the best-known outfit for women is the Sari. Churidars or Salwar Kameez are also elegant and comfortable to wear. Most Indian girls and younger women prefer wearing them.
• Hajeemoosa is a trusted name for clothes. Besides men’s wear they also have an excellent collection of silk saris.
• Next to the famous Meenakshi Temple is a bustling business centre that is housed in a quaint, ancient stone-pillared hall ‘the Puthu Mandapam’. This is a delight for most visitors. You can select from an assortment of silk and cotton material and have one of a dozen tailors to make your outfit. Both the material and the tailoring are inexpensive
here.

Handicrafts Shopping in Madurai
• Palma Corner, near the TTS Building at Arasaradi is a small shop that sells handicrafts produced by the locals. The rates are cheap and the proceeds go to supporting the local artisans.
• The Kadhi Bhavan located on the Town Hall Road is an authorized sales depot for handicrafts as well as Kadhi clothes. If you are purchasing antiques or crafts from the boutiques around the temple, be sure to bargain hard!

General Shopping in Madurai
You can purchase most things, from stationery to clothes, along the “80 ft Road” in Anna Nagar.

Festivals Celebrated in Madurai

• The Float Festival in Madurai in January is a grand spectacle in which the deity is taken around the large Mariamman Teppakulam temple tank on an elaborately decorated float.
• Chithrai Festival in April is Madurai’s most colorful carnival. It is about a fortnight-long celebration of the coronation and the marriage of the local deity, Goddess Meenakshi in the first month of the Tamil Calendar, Chithirai. This is a wonderful time to visit the Meenakshi Amman Temple, but the streets will be extremely crowded.

Sightseeing in Madurai
Within the city of Madurai, common places of interest include the Meenakshi Amman Temple, Gandhi Museum, etc. While these can be visited during the day, tours to other places can be arranged. Local travel agents can organize short trips over the weekends. Besides these, look out for periodic special events and festivals, which are announced by the Tamil Nadu Tourist Office or local newspapers (Metro Plus section of The Hindu), for example Jallikattu at Alanganallur, Pongal in the villages and classical dance or music concerts.

Meenakshi Amman Temple

The main attraction of Madurai is the Meenakshi Amman Temple, which is situated in the heart of the old town. It is a fine example of Dravidian architecture with gopurams covered from top to bottom with breathless profusion of multi-coloured images of gods, goddesses, animals and mythical figures. It houses the large central ‘Tank of the Golden Lotus’. Its large towers and sunning architecture is not to be missed. It is the heart of the Old Madurai city. The city is said to be ruled by Lord Shiva and his consort Goddess Meenakshi, who are the main deities. If you bring a camera, you will need to purchase a camera pass. Some parts of the temple are for Hindus only – if in doubt, ask first. It is just 15 minutes by autorickshaw travel from Aravind – a one way trip will cost you about 35 rupees.

Tirumalai Nayak Mahal

About 1.5 km from the Meenakshi Amman Temple is this palace that was built in 1636, by King Thirumalai Nayak with the help of an Italian Architect. It is open from 9 am to 5 pm. There’s an entertaining sound-light show in English everyday at 6.30 pm, narrating Madurai’s history and the temple carvings.

Gandhi Museum

It was in Madurai in the year 1921, that Gandhiji adopted for the first time, the loin cloth as his mode of dress, which made him known throughout the world as “The Naked Fakir”. It was in Madurai again that the doors of the great Meenakshi Amman Temple were thrown open to Harijans, thus winning a historic battle against “Untouchability”. Gandhiji visited the Temple in the year 1946 along with Harijans as a triumph for the cause of Harijan Temple entry.

Located at just a 10 minute walk from the Aravind Eye Hospital the Gandhi Museum is housed in the old palace of Rani Mangammal. This museum is worth seeing and gives a clear history of the independence of India. Some of the utensils used by the Mahatma are also kept on display.

Mariamman Teppakulam Tank

This tank is located 5 km east of the old city and covers an area almost equal to that of the Meenakshi temple. It is the biggest tank of its kind in Tamil Nadu and one of the most imposing sights of Madurai when it is full of water. This enormous temple tank is fed by water brought from the Vagai River through an ingenious system of underground channels.

This is the site of the popular Teppam festival. In commemoration of the birth of the king, the colourful Float Festival is held in this tank, in the Tamil month of ‘Thai’ (January-February).

Sightseeing Outside the City of Madurai
Azhagar Koil

This is a Vishnu temple located 21 kms north of Madurai at the foothills of Alagar Malai, a lovely wooded hill. It is a picturesque place alive with monkeys. The main deity is Lord Vishnu. Vishnu presides as Meenakshi’s brother “Azhagar”. During the Chithirai festival in April/May, when the marriage of Meenakshi to Sundereshwarar is celebrated, Azhagar travels to Madurai for the wedding ritual in an impressive procession.

Palamudhirsolai
One of the six abodes of Lord Subramanya is on the same hill, about 4 km above. Within the temple is a natural spring called Nuburagangai where pilgrims bathe.

Surya Nagar
A fascinating temple found about 7km south of Madurai, located on Alagar Koil Road, about 1/3 of the way to Alagar Koil.

Thiruparankundram

Located 6 km’s southwest of Madurai, this is a small town known for its sacred granite hill. Also regarded as one of the six abodes of Lord Subramaniya, it is a rock-cut temple . Here, Lord Subramaniya was wedded to Devayanai, daughter of Indra, after annihilating the demon, Surapadman. The temple is regarded as one of the six abodes of Lord Subramaniya. There is a long walk to the top, but the view is spectacular once you get there!

Athisayam Theme Park
Located at a distance of 12 kms from Madurai along the Dindigul road at Paravai is the Athisayam theme park, the only one of its kind in this part of the region, which promises you non-stop fun. World-class water sports offer plenty of exciting entertainment.

Thirumohur Temple
It is a quiet and serene temple with a lotus pond about 10 km north of Madurai. The main deity is Lord Vishnu.

Vaigai Dam
This is a popular picnic spot 70 kms from Madurai. Well laid out gardens on one side of dam is a prime attraction. On Sundays the dam is illuminated with an array of colored lights.

Kanyakumari

This is known as “The Land’s End” of India, where the Bay of Bengal meets the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea. It is a spectacle to watch the sunrise, sunset and the moonrise over the ocean. It also has a temple, a memorial to Gandhi and a good museum on Swami Vivekananda’s life. You could either travel by train or hire a taxi.

Kodaikanal
It is an enchanting hill station 2,130 m above sea level on the Western Ghats and 120 km from Madurai. Travel takes about 3 hours. Kodaikanal is an ideal place for trekking.

Megamalai
130 kms from Madurai, Megamalai lies 1500 m above sea level. One has to climb up from the Chinnamanur side. There are many cardomon estates and tea plantations in the hills. Wild animals like sambhar, elephant, tiger, cheetah, gaur and spotted deer are found amidst thick vegetation.

Coutrallam

"The spa of the south" is situated at an elevation of about 167 m on the Western Ghats in Tirunelveli District, 160 kms from Madurai. It has nine waterfalls. The water as it gushes through different herbs of the mountain absorbs their medicinal properties. A shower in the falls makes one’s body and spirit hale and healthy.

Rameswaram
Known as the ‘Varanasi of the South’, Rameswaram is a major pilgrim site for Hindus. With temples, shrines, and an incredible beach, it makes for a nice day or an overnight trip from Madurai. Bus tours leave at 7.00 am and return in the evening at 7.00 pm. Hiring a car and driver is also a good option. It takes four hours to get there and the drive itself is picturesque.

Living Arrangements in Madurai
Aravind Guest House “Harmony”, Madurai
For most overseas visitors and volunteers, a visit to India demands a lot of cultural understanding and adaption to local living conditions. The level of comfort and hygiene affects how productive they can be during their stay in India. In order to address this, one of the very first developments at Aravind way back in the early 1980’s was the establishment of a Guesthouse.

The purpose of the Guesthouse was to provide a living environment that is safe, friendly, and hygienic. This was done so that the visitors and volunteers could live with reasonable comfort, remain healthy and focus their attention to achieve the purpose of their visit. Recognizing this important value to the visitors, the Guesthouse, from the beginning, has been under the direct supervision of one of the founding Trustees of Aravind, as it continues to be so. The present Guesthouse has been specially designed with major improvements over the old guesthouses that accommodated visitors and volunteers up to 1998.

“Harmony” is a three-storeyed guesthouse with all facilities, located just a five minute walk from the hospital. It consists of sixteen air conditioned and two non-a/c rooms all attached with western style bathrooms. A permanent cook and a housekeeper are there to serve the volunteers and guests.

The guest house is equipped with a TV and DVD player. Cable channels include BBC, a movie channel, and MTV. The guesthouse also has a small library.

The following are some timings and guidelines for guests, to allow smooth running of the Guesthouse:

Meals
• Breakfast is served from 7am to 8am
• Lunch is served from 1pm to 2pm
• Dinner is served from 7:30pm to 8:30pm
If you will be away for a meal, please inform the staff in advance. This will allow them to clear the table after the meal so they will not have to wait for you. Lunch and dinner are not served on Sunday, as this is the cook’s day off . There is a microwave in the dining room if you wish to use it.

Laundry
Soiled clothes may be left in a laundry basket near the kitchen. The cost per item is 2.5 rupees. Delicate garments should be hand washed.

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