After the successful trip to Tanjore, I thought I will propose this idea of a trip to Madurai.
It would be a 3 day trip with the following coverage:
Day 1: ======
Visiting Meenatchi Temple, Tiruparan Kundram, Alagar Kovil, Narasingam Patti, Thirumohur, Thiruvathavur. ( Might have to keep some for Day 2)
Day 2: ======
Visiting Jain Caves ( there are many of them around ) that bear the Tamil Brahmi inscriptions. But we will cover the most famous of all including the inscription that bears the name of Pandian Nedunchelian.
Dear all pandya trip is something I was suggesting too
but we should travel by train overnight and start the trip from there.
less tiring. southern members can join there itself
another route we can consider is chennai- trichy overnight
trichy- devakottai
kodumbalur monuments, jain structures, early chola and mutharayar monuments,thirumeyyam, pillaiyarpatti( stay I can host at devakottai,)
devakottai - ramnad- devakottai
thiruvadanai, kalayar koil, nattarasan kottai ( where kamban reportedly spent his last days) ramnad royal palace( I think I can arrange a visit Plus a meeting with the rajah if we are lucky)
devakottai- madurai piran malai, madurai,meenakshi temple and param kunram plus naik monuments return to chennai by train
[1] The Meenatchi Temple was built in stages. The core temple is as old as 2500 years. Outer structures are built by Pandyas and Nayaks. The 1000 pillar mandapam and the new mandapam are the major attractions. It is a massive temple.
[2] The Tiruparankundram is a cave temple. Mentioned in Sankam literature. It is also as old as the Meenatchi Temple.
[3] The Nayak Palace - Palace of the Thirumalai Nayak. 16th Century AD. One of the remaining few palaces of our kings. Almost in ruins ( waits for the woodpecker!) The Light and Sound show is a major attraction here.
[4] Thiruvathavoor - Birth place of Manicavasagar ( or was it Thirunavukkarasar ? )
[5] Thirumohur - Padal Pettra sthalam. Very popular & a visit to here will bring prosperity.
[6] Alakar Kovil - Padal Pettra sthalam. Palamuthi Solai is on the top of this hill. This is where Murugan teaches Avvai of the "sutta palam and sudatha palam" the naval tree of this legend is still there.
All the sankam age Tamil Brahmi inscriptions are scattered around Madurai. We need to plan carefully.
The only comfortable & safe way to reach there is by trains as Venkatesh confirms.
All the trains to the south are booked atleast 1 month in advance :-( So if we want to make this trip, it has to be planned carefully and executed. So last minute drop outs or additions will be tough to handle.
madurai is an enigmatic city. a city which was named after a drop of nectar where the goddess herself ruled where the lord performed his 64 miracles
the cholas thought of it perpetually. they had a fixation for this city. named their sons maduranthakan. crowned themselves here as chola pandians what was in this city that the cholas thirsted for chola fans lets find out lets plan a pandya trip