Madurai, located in Tamil Nadu, India, is an ancient city with a long history as the capital of the Pandyan Kingdom. Known as the "Athens of the East," the city evolved around the Meenakshi Amman Temple complex located at its center. Madurai was carefully planned according to traditional Indian principles with concentric streets radiating outward from the temple. Lower castes lived farther from the temple core. Today, Madurai remains an important economic, cultural, and transportation hub of Tamil Nadu renowned for its vibrant cultural life and traditions.

1. STUDY OF CITY EVOLUTION
MADURAI
ATHENS OF THE EAST.

2. INTRODUCTION
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MADURAI , popularly known as the Temple city, also
called as ATHENS OF THE EAST, City of
Junction, City of Jasmine, CITY THAT NEVER
SLEEPS and City of four junctions. Madurai is third
major economic, industrial, commercial, political centre
and a major transportation hub for the southern
Tamilnadu. The city is renowned for tourism, festivals
and vibrant cultural life in general and is considered to
be the states cultural capital.
•
The rich and vibrant natural and cultural landscape with different linguistic and
cultural groups coexisting together in its UNIQUE CUSTOMS, TRADITIONS,
AND ART FORMS make it a classical example of an urban environment wherein
diversity becomes the source of strength rather than conflicts.
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3. LOCATION
Madurai is administrative
headquarters of Madurai District.
The capital of the Pandyan
kingdom was initially
Korkai, around 600 BCE and was
later moved to Koodal ie, Madurai
during the reign of Nedunj
Cheliyan. The district is bounded
on the north by Dindigul district
on the east by Sivaganga on the
west by Theni district and on the
south by Virthunagar District.
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4. ARIAL VIEW OF SREE MEENAKSHI AMMAN TEMPLE ALONG WITH THE SKYLINE OF MADURAI.
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5. HISTORY
Madurai has a long and well recorded history. As early
as the 3rd century BC, Megasthenes visited, the city
being referred to as "Methora". Madurai has been
described as the seat of the Pandyan Dynasty. The
capital of the Pandyan kingdom was initially
Korkai, around 600 BCE and was later moved to
Koodal ie, Madurai during the reign of Nedunj
Cheliyan. The city was home to the third and last
Tamil Sangam between 300 BCE and 200 CE.
PLAN depicting the Entire premises of
Sree meenakshi amman temple
After the Sangam age, most of present day Tamil Nadu, including Madurai, came under the rule of the
Kalabhras dynasty, which were ousted by the Pandyas around 550 CE. The Pandyas were in their
turn removed from power by the Chola dynasty during the early 9th century.
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6. The city remained under control of the Cholas until the early 13th century, when the second
Pandyan empire was established with Madurai as its capital. After the death of the last
Pandyan ruler, Kulasekara Pandian,
Madurai came under the rule of the Delhi Sultanate. The Madurai Sultanate then seceded
from Delhi and functioned as an independent kingdom till its destruction by the Vijayanagar
Empire in 1378.
Madurai became independent from Vijayanagar in 1559 and came under the Nayaks.
Nayak rule ended in 1736 and Madurai changed hands several times between Chanda Sahib,
Arcot Nawab and Muhammed Yusuf Khan in the middle of the 18th century.
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7. In 1801 the British East India Company
took direct control of Madurai and
brought it under the Madras
Presidency. In 1837, the city was
expanded to accommodate the growing
population
by
demolishing
the
fortifications around the temple. This
was done on the orders of the then
collector John Blackburn. The moat was
drained and the debris was used to
construct the new streets - Veli, Marat
and Perumaal Mesthiri streets. The city
was constituted as a municipality in
1866.
Map indicates the Evolution of Historic City
Source: Department of History, M.K University, Madurai.
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8. TRADITIONAL PLANNING STRATEGIES
The old city of Madurai is considered to
be designed according to the Rajdhani
plan, described in Manasara, one of the
Shilpasastra, and has the fivefold
concentric rectangular formation with
Meenakshi- Sundareshwara Temple at a
very centre point. The city was a well
planned one with bazaars and many
broad streets with high and luxurious
mansions on both sides.
The city was built around the temple
complex as the focal point with a
combination of a concentric street
pattern.
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9. The streets concentric to the temple complex
formed the major streets viz., Chithirai
Streets, Avani Moola Streets and Masi Streets.
The next order of streets is perpendicular to the
above streets and lead to the temple entrances.
The developments within and beyond these
streets are on an irregular pattern. A definite
hierarchy of street pattern was adopted with the
width of the Streets decreasing as they branched
out, ending up in stone paved streets and lanes the width of some being just 0.60 m. The entire
city was enclosed within the fort walls and
surrounded by a moat. The fort walls have been
razed down and the moat filled up to form the
present day Veli Streets.
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10. SETTLEMENT PATTERN
The settlement pattern of Madurai is
planned according to the ancient system
of town planning which is based on caste
and occupational hierarchies. The map
shows the present settelemnt pattern and
its relavance with the ancient town
planning system. Ancient south indian
temple towns are designed by placing the
temple complex at the centre with
concentric rectangle pattern of streets
around. This can be seen in another
southern temple town srirangam also.
Map showing Settlement Pattern of Madurai city with ancient town planning system.
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Source: City as diagram Prof.Rutul Joshi
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11. In Madurai, Meenakshi Amman
Temple is at the center. Royal
Palaces, Brahmins and Priests at the
first
concentric
rectangle.Traders, Kishatriyas and
Vaishnavaites on the second rectangle.
The lower caste Sudras and immigrants
zoarashitrains in the third rectangle.
Map showing Settlement Pattern of Madurai city with ancient town
planning system. Source: City as diagram Prof.Rutul Joshi
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12. THE END
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