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Madurai pronunciation (Tamil: மதுரை, IPA: [mɐd̪ɯrəj]) is a city and a municipal corporation situated on the banks of the River Vaigai in Madurai district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The city is also known as Madura, pronounced Ma ju ra, and as Nan mada kudal, the original name. The city of Madurai, with a population of 922,913 according to the 2001 census, is the administrative capital of Madurai district.
Madurai was the capital city of the Pandya kings of South India. Madurais cultural heritage goes back 2500 years, and the city has been an important commercial center since as early as 550 C.E.
In legend, the original town of Madurai was destroyed by a tsunami in ancient Lemuria (continent). The new city was home to the last Tamil Sangam in the early part of last Century. The great national poet Subramanya Bharathi worked as a Tamil language pandit / teacher in Sethupathy High School during the early 20th Century. There is a village town in the neighbouring district of Dindigul called Vada Madurai, and another in the neighbouring district of Sivagangai called Mana Madurai. |
