Madurai which is usually called ‘nanmadakkoodal’ in tamil literature is an ancient city more than 4000 years old. Koodal means assembly and as all the 3 academies (sangams) were established in madurai, it got the name koodal. Literacty evidences prove that the first madurai was devoured by the sea and what we now see is the second madurai founded by the pandya king kulasekara in 6th century b.c. the culture of tamilnadu is woven with the history of maurai in all aspects-history, religion,art, legend ,polity, learning and so on. It was the city of elites and learned men, so it is aptly called the athens of the east.
The name madurai is associated with ‘maduram’ meaning nectar. The legend is that when lord shiva came here to marry devi meenakshi, few drops of nectar fell from his locks and therefore named as madurapuri, the land of nectar which was shortened later as madurai.
From the sangam age, it was the capital of the pandyas and except for a brief spell under the cholas till the muslim invasion by malik kafur (1290-1320 AD) it was ruled by the pandyas. Afterwards, it came under vijayanagar rule and their governors, the nayaks from 1371. The nayaks ruled over 200 years and their reign is the golden age when madurai was at its height in art, architechture and learning. They embellished madurai with temples and buildings, including the meenakshi temple, which are landmarks of the chennai city. Madurai now is the 2nd largest city of tamilnadu .
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