TIRUMALAI NAYAK PALACE
AT
MADURAI
This Palace was
built in 1636 by King Thirumalai
Nayak with the help of an
Italian Architect. The building we see today was the main Palace where the King
lived. The original Palace Complex was four times bigger than the present
structure. This palace consisted mainly of two parts, namely Swargavilasa and Rangavilasa.
It is considered a wonder of South India. Thirumalai
Nayak wanted the grandest palace for himself and constructed the palace which
is a blend of Dravidian and Islamic styles. The palace was originally four
times bigger and it had two parts. The first part was Swargavilasa or the
heavenly pavilion, meant for the King and Ranka Vilasa for servants.
Currently it has courtyard surrounded with garden. A sound and light show is
held in the evening.The
Interior of the palace surpasses many of its Indian contemporaries in scale.
The interior is richly decorated whilst the exterior is treated in a more
austere style.
Tirumala Nayaka, who ascended to throne in
1623 A.D., and ruled over Madurai for 36 years can be said to have made the
largest single contribution towards the enhancement of the beauty and splendour
of the town by magnificent edifices and monuments.
Tirumala Nayaka was certainly the greatest of the
Nayaka rulers. The nayakas of Madurai like those of Thanjavur and gingee ruled
South India as the Governors of Vijayanagar emperors and gradually became
independent rulers as the empire began to decline and breakup,though they did
not like to call themselves as kings due probably to their reverence to the
dynasty.
Sound and light show the only one of its kind
in South India, really is a boon to Madurai city. This show was established
during 1981 when the fifth world tamil conference was conducted. The programme
was engineered by the then Chief Minister of Tamilnadu Mr.M.G.Ramachandran.
The show begins with the reverbrating tribute
to the King Thirumalai Naick. It deals with the important events which took
place in the life of the King. His victories over the enemies, his love on art,
his deep sense of devotion to Goddess Meenakshi are narrated interestingly. The
court scene in which Kannagi, the heroine of Silapathikaram challanged the
Pandya King Nedunchezhian, is an interesting episode of the show. This is an
interesting show that one should not miss.
Daily two shows are conducted one in English
and another in Tamil for one hour.
By Air
Madurai has an
Airport. The Tirumalai nayak palace is about 8 kms from the airport. There are
daily flights to Chennai. Chennai is the closest international airport to
Madurai. Nearest
By Rail
Madurai. Madurai is an important railway junction of the Southern Railway and is
directly connected to Chennai (Egmore station), Coimbatore, Bangalore, Mumbai,
Delhi and Tirunelveli.
By Road
There are several buses from Chennai,
Thiruchanapalli, Coimbatore and Thirunelveli. There are also buses to
neighbouring states of Kerala and Karnataka.
