Two Days Madurai Sightseeing Tour By Car

Itinerary for Day 1 Madurai Sigtseeing Tour Package

About Madurai

Madurai is one of the ancient cities of South India with a glorious history. It is famous for its world acclaimed Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple. The city of Madurai has been constructed in the form of a lotus and is built around the temple. It is situated on the banks of the river Vaigai. Owing to its rich cultural heritage and architectural splendor, the city is often referred to as the ‘Athens of the East’. The origin of Madurai dates back to the Sangam period, the golden period of Tamil Literature.

DAY 1 PICKUP FROM MADURAI: Hotel / Airport / Railway Station / Bus Station and proceed to Madurai Local Sightseeing places including:

MEENAKSHI SUNDARESWARAR TEMPLE

The Madurai Temple forms the heart and lifeline of Madurai city which is 2,500 year old. The original temple was built by Kulashekara Pandya, but the initiative to rebuild the structure was taken by first Nayak king of Madurai, Viswanatha Nayak (1559-1600) under the supervision of Ariyanatha Mudaliar. The temple was substantially expanded to the current structure during the reign of Thirumalai Nayak between 1623 and 1655 CE by the Nayak rulers. The credit for making the temple as splendid as it is today goes to Tirumalai Nayak who brought back glory to this magnificent structure.

KOODAL ALAGAR TEMPLEA

unique feature of this temple is the three different postures of the same God. The three figures of Vishnu are in standing, sitting and reclining postures. These three figures of the deity are known by three different names. The most venerated of the three figures is Lord Vishnu in the seated posture. The seated Lord Vishnu is locally known as Lord Koodal Alagar from whom the temple derives its name. The reclining idol is known as Sri Ranganatha. Sri Surya Narayan Perumal is the name for the standing image of Lord Vishnu.

THIRUMALAI NAYAK MAHAL

The original palace complex was four times bigger than the present structure. It was divided into two parts, Swargavilasa and Rangavilasa and only the Swargavilasa is survived today. The palace was designed by an Italian architect. The ceilings are decorated with large paintings showing Shaivite and Vaishnavite themes. The Darbar hall (courtyard) and the Natakasala (dancing hall) are carry the original glory and are central attractions for visitors. There are 248 pillars, each 58 feet tall and 5 feet in diameter. It is believed that the Rangavilasa portion of the palace was demolished by Chockanatha Nayak, the grandson of Thirumalai Nayak and the materials were carried to Trichy to build a new palace.

THIRUPPARANKUNDRAM TEMPLE

Tirupparankundram Temple is one of the six abodes of Murugan and considered as the first and foremost temple of Lord Muruga. Several myths and legends are associated with this temple and one of them says that it is at this place that the Lord Muruga defeated the demon Surapadman and got married to Deivayani, daughter of the king of heaven, Indra and worshipped Lord Shiva.The main shrine is an early rock cut temple which has cells that house the sanctums of Subramanya, Durga, Vinayakar, Shiva and Vishnu. There are several mandapas in this temple known as Kambathadi Mandapam, Ardha Mandapam, and Mahamandapam situated at different levels connected by steps. There are several architectural features of interest, especially the rock cut portions of this hill temple dating back to the Pandya period and the life sized sculptures in the mandapams of the Nayakar period.

Drop at Madurai Hotel / Over Night Stay In Madurai End of a One Day Madurai Local Sightseeing Tour…

Itinerary for Day 2 Madurai Local Sigtseeing Tour

DAY 2 PICKUP FROM MADURAI: Hotel / After Brakefast and proceed Madurai Local Sightseeing places including:

NARASINGAM TEMPLE

Narasingam is famous for the Cave temple of Yoga Narasinga Perumal constructed in 770 AD by Madurakavi who was the minister of the Madurai King Paraanthaka Nedunchelzyan. The sculpture of Narasinga Perumal is carved out of the Aanaimalai Hill rocks. This temple is a good example of the cave sculpturing of the Pandya Kingdom. In front of this there is a stone temple for the goddess Sri Narasingavalli.To the west of Narasinga Perumal temple, there is another cave temple constructed in 8th century AD by Pandia King. In this temple the deity Muruga and the goddess Devasena are seen. On the outer wall of this temple the sculptures of the cock and peacocks are formed beautifully.

ALAGAR KOIL

The temple is the abode of Lord Vishnu and is the sacred place for several followers of Lord Vishnu in the region. It is situated in the Alagar hills and is also known as Azhagar Kovil. Here ‘Vishnu’ presides as Meenakshi’s brother ‘Azhagar’. The statue of the lord is made of stone and is a great masterpiece created from kallalgar. Several different statues in different postures of the Lord are all kept in the temple under the same roof and it is the best form of distinct temples in southern India.The impressive main tower at the entrance is believed to have been built by the Pandyan Kings. Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan (1251-1270 AD) has beautified the ‘vimana’ with gold plates. Later, during the reign of the Vijayanagar king Krishnadeva Raya, the temple has received good funding for conducting regular festivals.

GANDHI MUSEUM

The building that houses the Gandhi Memorial Museum, Madurai is the historic Tamukkam Palace belonging to Rani Mangammal of Nayak Dynasty built about 1670 A.D. It was in 1955 the palace with about 13 acres of land was gifted by the Tamil Nadu State Government to the All India Gandhi Smarak Nidhi for the purpose of housing Gandhi Memorial Museum. The Museum was inaugurated by Jawaharlal Nehru on 15 April 1959.Among the exhibits at the Museum is part of the blood-stained garment worn by Gandhiji when he was assassinated by Nathuram Godse. Other exhibits in the Museum include a original letter written personally by Gandhi to Shri Narayanan Sathsangi of Devakottai. A congratulatory message sent by Gandhi to freedom fighter and poet Subramania Bharati is also preserved in this Museum. Yet another interesting letter is the one, written by the Mahatma to Adolf Hitler addressing him as ‘Dear Friend’.The Museum contains a ‘Visual Biography of Bapuji’ containing photos, paintings, sculptures, manuscripts, quotations and some of the selected photostat copies of many of the letters written by him.

VANDIYUR MARIAMMAN TEMPLE

Vandiyur Mariamman Temple is built in the memory of Lord Vigneshwara. It is a popular temples near Madurai city.It has a huge tank in the compound of the temple and is the biggest tank in the region of Tamil Nadu. The tank is filled with water all year long and the idol of the temple too was obtained from the bottom of the tank, while it was dug in the olden times and hence the temple was constructed at that place itself. So the tank gained its popularity since then and the temple too was constructed in its memory.Float festival is conducted in the month of Jan/Feb in the tank in a colourful way, which attracts thousands of tourists.

Drop at Madurai  / Hotel / Airport / Railway Station / Bus Station. End of a Two Days Madurai Local Sightseeing Tour…

Guests are requested to follow the itinerary provided in the 2 Days Madurai Local Sightseeing tour package. This 2 days Tamilnadu tour package can not be customized, however if guests prefer to visit different set of places in Tamilnadu and around, they can create their own itinerary and request for a custom quote from cab providers.