Places to visit in Madurai, and the order to see them

The great temple of Madurai, to the goddess Meenakshi and Sundareswarar, a form of Shiva. Fourteen gateway towers covered in thousands of painted figures rise over the old city, the tallest about 52 m high. Inside are long pillared halls, the Golden Lotus tank and the Hall of a Thousand Pillars, which holds a small art museum. Thousands of people come to worship every day.

What is left of the palace King Thirumalai Nayak built in 1636. The great courtyard is ringed by round white pillars, each about 12 m tall, holding up arches and a high dome. Only about a quarter of the palace survives, but the scale is still striking. A small gallery shows sculpture and old objects from round Madurai.

An old Vishnu temple in the west of the old city, one of the 108 temples sacred to Vishnu's followers. Its tower has three shrines stacked one above the other, with Vishnu sitting, standing and lying down. It is much quieter than the Meenakshi temple, about 1 km away.

A museum of Gandhi's life and India's freedom struggle, in a 17th century palace of Queen Rani Mangammal. Its best-known object is the blood-stained cloth Gandhi wore when he was shot in 1948. Gandhi also decided to dress only in a simple loincloth while in Madurai in 1921, and the museum tells that story.

A huge square temple tank in the east of the city, about 300 m on each side, with a small temple on an island in the middle. Built in the 1640s, it is linked to the Vaigai river by channels. It is often dry, but in late January or early February the float festival fills it, and the gods of the Meenakshi temple are taken round on a lit-up raft.

The first of the six holy homes of Murugan, cut into the foot of a rocky hill about 8 km south-west of the city. The inner shrines are carved out of the rock, and the story goes that Murugan married Deivanai here. Halls of carved pillars lead up to them in steps.

A long bare granite hill west of Madurai where Jain monks lived over 2,000 years ago. Stone beds are cut into the rock, with some of the oldest Tamil writing in old Brahmi letters. On the hillside is a carved figure of Mahavira and other Jain teachers, and below lies a lotus pond. It is quiet and few visitors come.

A big Vishnu temple at the foot of the forested Alagar hills, inside the walls of an old fort. Vishnu here is Kallazhagar, the brother of Meenakshi; in the Chithirai festival his image is carried to Madurai and into the Vaigai river. The halls have fine carved pillars, and monkeys live round the temple.

The sixth of Murugan's holy homes, in the forest on the Alagar hills about 4 km above Alagar Kovil. It is a small, newer temple in a green, cool setting. A short climb above it is Noopura Gangai, a spring that never runs dry, with the Rakkayi Amman shrine, where pilgrims bathe.

Yanaimalai is a long granite hill east of the city shaped like a lying elephant. On its west face are temples cut into the rock about 1,200 years ago: the Ladan cave shrine to Murugan, and nearby the Yoga Narasimha cave temple at Narasingam. Higher up are Jain carvings and old Tamil writing.

A museum, opened in 2023, of finds from the Keeladi dig, about 13 km south-east of Madurai. Since 2015 archaeologists have found a town over 2,000 years old here, with brick buildings, pottery with Tamil letters, beads, dice and jewellery. The museum is built like a village of tiled houses, with films that explain the dig.

An evening show in the palace courtyard. Coloured lights play on the pillars and arches while a recorded voice tells the story of King Thirumalai Nayak and the palace. It runs about 45 minutes.

The wholesale flower market of Madurai, famous for its jasmine, Madurai malli. Before dawn, farmers bring in sacks of flowers and traders sell them by the kilo, with piles of jasmine, marigold and roses everywhere. It is noisy, busy and smells wonderful.