History of Madurai Revisited

I was amazed to read some very interesting history facts of Madurai. How the name of Marret streets came? What was there in Veli streets, in past? etc.,

please check this article in The Hindu - History of Madurai revisited

Uses of History? - Study B.A.History and become what?

Have you wondered what is the use of history? Why do people study history? I am lately very much interested in History, which I was not very much interested in school, but now yes! That is because probably I am bit more mature and becoming curious to relate ourselves to the past and also know what our ancestors have been doing and what they have acquired and what they have left us and what is the lesson we need to capture in order to live very well.

"The student who reads history will unconsciously develop what is the highest value of history: judgment in worldly affairs. This is a permanent good, not because "history repeats" - we can never exactly match past and present situations - but because the "tendency of things" shows an amazing uniformity within any given civilization. As the great historian Burckhardt said of historical knowledge, it is not 'to make us more clever the next time, but wiser for all time.'" -Jacques Barzun, Begin Here

• History improves judgment.
• History provides instructive examples.
• History makes us better thinkers.
• History supports common cultural understanding and dialogue.
• History satisfies a need for identity.
• Finally, history gives pleasure.
  

By exposing us to the "foreign country of the past" (and to actual foreign cultures of today), history can help us develop tolerance and open-mindedness and "perhaps, rid ourselves of some of our inherent cultural provincialism." Furay and Salevouris also note that "Historical knowledge is extremely valuable in the pursuit of other disciplines - literature, art, religion, political science, sociology, and economics."

At last, what can you become as when you complete BA History degree? Yes, You can continue as Economist (by adding an economics degree), Politician, Lawyer, Sociologist, Historian, Literature field, Teacher, Professor, Social worker and of course in this list itself I have mentioned some lucrative fields!

Madurai had been a center for lot of things from the past history

Madurai had been a center for lot of things from the past history.

Starting from olden history dating from Pandya Kingdom, Vijayanagara Kingdom, Nayak Dynasty, British rule and till today among southern districts.

Thirumalai Nayak had a great dream for Madurai and he had lot of interest in arts.
There are short stories explaining Nayak's interest and dedication to art works in Madurai. Hence the temple in and around Madurai!! history

Madurai is amazing in terms of the core city architecture, temple architecture, people, lifestyle, food etc.,

Even today, for any southern Tamil Nadu districts center, Madurai is chosen! Madurai has the flavor of history still and that is the significance of Madurai.

Madurai family from Jothimanickam Village finds the root 70000 years back

A 30-year-old systems administrator Virumandi Andithevar hailing from a sleepy village close to Madurai in Tamil Nadu has been identified as one of the direct descendants of the first ever settlers in India, who had migrated from the African coast some 70,000 years ago.

Dr Pitchappan, who heads the School of Biological Sciences at Madurai Kamaraj University is lead scientist for this 'Genographic Project'. He leads 10 scientists for this project.

Virumandi Andithevar is being presented before the media by the Discovery Channel in Chennai on Friday during the national launch of its serial The Story of India.

Read more in Asian Age

Madurai Mani Iyer - Carnatic Music Singer from Madurai

Madurai Mani Iyer (1912-1968) was a famous Carnatic music singer, who was famous for his unique style. He was one of the celebrated carnatic vocalists during the first half of the 20th century.

Madurai Mani Iyer, whose original name was Subramanian was born to Sri Ramaswamy Iyer and Smt.Subbulakshmi in Madurai on October 25, 1912. His father Sri.M.S.Ramaswami Iyer, a Sub-court Clerk, was the brother of the famous Vidwan Pushpavanam, who was a great classical musician himself.

Mani Iyer's tutelage in music started at the tender age of nine. His first guru was Sri Rajam Bhagavathar who was Disciple of Ettayapuram Ramachandra Bhagavathar.

MS Subbulakshmi from Madurai - Madurai Carnatic Vocalist

Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi (Maturai Cha?mukava?ivu Chuppula?chumi), popularly known as M.S. or M.S.S.) (September 16, 1916 - December 11, 2004) was a renowned Carnatic vocalist. She was the first musician ever to be awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honor.

M.S.Subbulakhsmi was born to Shanmukhavadivu (Veena Vidwan) and Subramaniya Iyer on 16 Sep,1916 in a musical family, in the temple town of Madurai situated in the state of Tamil Nadu in South India. M.S. started learning Carnatic music from a very early age and released her first recording at the age of 10. She then began her Carnatic classical music training under Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer and then Hindustani classical training under Pandit Narayan Rao Vyas. Her first public performance was during the Mahamaham festival at Kumbakonam. Then, she performed countless musical forms in different languages such as Hindi, Bengali , Gujarati , Marathi, Tamil , Malayalam, Telugu , Sanskrit and Kannada.

M.S. met T.Sadasivam|Sadasivam, a freedom fighter, and a follower of Rajaji, in 1936. She married him in 1940 and their marriage spanned over 50 years. They had no children. Sadasivam had children from his previous marriage that M.S. treated as if they were her own children. They were named Radha, Vijaya. M.S and Sadasivam also raised Radha who frequently sang with M.S. in concert while Vijaya played the Tanpura.

Subbulakshmi had participated in music concerts all over the world,but her participation in the concerts at New York in 1970,London in 1982 and Moscow in 1987 had a special significance in her life.17 January,2001 was a very important day in karnatak classical music when M.S.Subbulakshmi was given a national award by Ramaseva Mandal in bangaluru.She was the first woman who recived this prestigious award

Read more here in wikipedia

Rani (Queen) Mangammal from Madurai

The history of Madurai will not be complete without mentioning the name of Rani Mangammal, the woman of great skill and sagacity. History does not provide many instances of ruling queens in Tamil Nadu. Though it was considered that women were not suited to succeed the throne of a kingdom, Rani Mangammmal, however shines in almost solitary eminence as an able and powerful ruler in Tamil Nadu.

Rani Mangammal (1689—1704) was a queen regent on behalf of her grandson, in the Madurai Nayak kingdom in present day Tamil Nadu, India, towards the end of the century. She was a popular administrator and is still widely remembered as a maker of roads and avenues, and a builder of temples, tanks and choultries with many of her public works still in use. She is also known for her diplomatic and political skills and successful military campaigns. The capital of Madurai Kingdom during her times was Tiruchirapalli.

Read more here in wikipedia

History of Madurai in short

History of Madurai in a gist

Madurai is one of the oldest cities of India, with a history dating all the way back to the Sangam period of the pre-Christian era. The glory of Madurai returned in a diminished form in the earlier part of this millennium; it later on came under the rule of the Vijayanagar kingdom after being ransacked by the ravaging armies of Delhi (Malik Kafur). During the 16th and 18th centuries, Madurai was ruled by the Nayak Emperors, the foremost of whom was Tirumalai Nayakar. The Sangam period poet Nakkeerar is associated with some of the Tiruvilayaadal episodes of Sundareswarar - that are enacted as a part of temple festival traditions even today.

The Sangam age or the Golden age of Tamil literature – produced masterpieces way back in the pre-Christian era and in early 1st Millennium Madurai was the seat of the Tamil Sangam or Academy of learning. The entire city of Madurai, is built around the Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple – the temple par excellence. Concentric rectangular streets surround the temple, symbolizing the structure of the cosmos.

As early as the 3rd century BC, Megasthanes visited Madurai. Later many people from Rome and Greece visited Madurai and established trade with the Pandya kings. Madurai flourished until the 10th century AD when it was captured by Cholas, the archrivals of the Pandyas.

The Cholas ruled Madurai from 920 AD till the beginning of the 13th century. In 1223 AD Pandyas regained their kingdom and once again become prosperous. Pandian Kings patronised Tamil language in a great way. During their period, many masterpieces were created. "Silapathikaram", the great epic in Tamil was written based on the story of Kannagi who burnt Madurai as a result of the injustice caused to her husband Kovalan. In April 1311, Malik Kafur, the general of Alauddin Khilji who was then the ruler of Delhi, reached Madurai and raided and robbed the city for precious stones, jewels, and other rare treasures. This led to the subsequent raids by other Muslim Sultans. In 1323, the Pandya kingdom including Madurai became a province of the Delhi Empire, under the Tughlaks.

The 1371, the Vijayanagar dynasty of Hampi captured Madurai and it became part of the Vijayanagar empire. Kings of this dynasty were in habit of leaving the captured land to governors called Nayaks. This was done for the efficient management of their empire. The Nayaks paid fixed amount annually to the Vijayanagar Empire. After the death of Krishna Deva Raya (King of Vijayanagar empire) in 1530 AD, the Nayaks became independent and ruled the territories under their control. Among Nayaks, Thirumalai Nayak (1623-1659) was very popular, even now he is popular among people, since, it was he who contributed to the creation of many magnificent structures in and around Madurai. The Raja Gopuram of the Meenakshi Amman Temple, The Pudu Mandapam and The Thirumalai Nayakar's Palace are living monuments to his artistic fervor.

Madurai started slipping into the hands of the British's East India Company. In 1781, British appointed their representatives to look after Madurai. George Procter was the first collector of Madurai.

Now after India's independence, Madurai is one of the major districts of Tamilnadu State. Later on Madurai district was bifurcated into two districts namely Madurai and Dindugul Districts. In Madurai District, there are 15 state assembly constituencies and two parliament constituencies.