Madurai

Madurai is the administrative headquarters of Madurai District in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the third largest city and the Second largest municipal corporation in Tamil Nadu next only to Chennai. Located on the banks of River Vaigai, it has been a major settlement for two millennia and is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.

Madurai is closely associated with the Tamil language as all three primary congregations of Tamil scholars, the Tamil Sangams, were held in the city between the 3rd century BC and 3rd century CE. The recorded history of the city goes back to the 3rd century BC, being mentioned by Megasthenes, the Greek ambassador to India, and Kautilya, a minister of the Mauryan emperor Chandragupta Maurya. The city is believed to be of significant antiquity and has been ruled, at different times, by the Early Pandyas, Medieval Cholas, Later Cholas, Later Pandyas, Ma'bar Sultanate, Madurai Sultanate, Vijayanagar Empire, Madurai Nayaks, Chanda Sahib, Carnatic kingdom, and the British. The city has a number of historical monuments, the Meenakshi Amman Temple and Tirumalai Nayak Palace being the most prominent among them. The city celebrates several festivals, the most important being the annual 10-day Meenakshi Tirukalyanam festival (also called Chittirai festival), celebrated during April–May, that attracts 1 million visitors. Madurai is also known for Jallikattu, the annual bull taming event celebrated along with the Thai Pongal festival, organised in villages outside the city.

Madurai is an important industrial and educational hub of South Tamil Nadu. The city is house to various automobile, rubber, chemical and granite manufacturing industries. It has developed as a second-tier city for Information Technology and some software companies have opened their centres in Madurai. Madurai has important government educational institutes like the Madurai Medical College, Homeopathic Medical College, Madurai Law College, Agricultural College and Research Institute that provides education to aspirants in southern districts of Tamil Nadu.The prestigious Thiagarajar college of Engineering(TCE) is also located at Madurai.Madurai is administered by a municipal corporation established in 1971 as per the Municipal Corporation Act. The city covers an area of 147.99 km2 and had a population of 1,230,015 in 2001. The provisional population totals of 2011 census indicate the population of the city is yet to be released. The city is also the seat of a bench of the Madras High Court, being one of only a few courts that exist outside the state capitals of India. Madurai is well-connected by road, rail and air.