Yet another bus trip, this one of five hours, brought us from Tanjore to Madurai in the south of Tamil Nadu. Madurai is an ancient city, its existence recorded in the 4th century BC in both Tamil and Greek documents. An early spice trading centre, it was controlled by a succession of different rulers over the centuries, including the Nayaks in the 16th and 17th centuries when Madurai became the cultural centre of the Tamil people and the Sri Meenakshi Temple was built.Our guidebook describes this colossus towering over the city skyline as the “high point of South Indian temple architecture, as vital to the aesthetic heritage of this region as the Taj Mahal is to North India.” It covers an area of 15 acres enclosed by 12 gopurams, the highest of which is 170 feet, all carved with a huge array of gods, goddesses, demons and heroes. It’s still a functioning temple attracting Hindu pilgrims from all over the world, and a large number of western tourists. The interior is photogenic and atmospheric, and very exotic.
We took an auto-rickshaw a few kilometers from the town centre to visit the Gandhi Memorial Museum that provides a moving account from an Indian perspective of India’s 200 year struggle for independence from foreign occupiers, and the central role played by Mahatma Gandhi in the years before India finally achieved independence in 1947. On display is the blood-stained dhoti (large loin cloth) Gandhi was wearing when he was assassinated in Delhi by a Hindu zealot just months after independence. The loin cloth is displayed in Madurai because it was here in 1921 where Gandhi first began to wear the dhoti as a sign of native pride.
Earlier today we inspected the Tirumalai Nayak Palace built in the early 1600s. Some of it has been impressively restored and provides a glimpse into the opulent existence of the Nayak rulers of the time. And as proof that you can never have too much of a good thing, the signboard in the Natakasal (Dance Hall) records that “it was from here the King used to watch along with his wives dances performed by beautiful damsels in the evening.” Those Nayaks really knew how to enjoy life.
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