Maamannar Thirumalainayak Palace

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MADURAI TOURIST PLACES:

Maamannar Thirumalainayak Temple (God Of GavarabalijaKshatriyas):

 This palace is located in below address in Madurai.

Address: 1, Mahal Vadampokki St, Mahal Area, Madurai Main, Madurai, Tamil Nadu 625001

HISTORY OF THE PALACE:

This Palace was built in 1635 by King Thirumalai Nayak who ruled Madurai from 1623–59.It was designed as a residence for the king in Italian architect.

The sound and light shows are conducted every evening at this palace, will make your trip much exciting.Now under the protection of Tamil Nadu Archarlogical Department, The Thirumalai Nayakar Mahal/ Thirumalai Nayakar palace was declared as a National Monument in Temple City immediately After Independence.

The King Thirumalai Nayak has recruited an Italian architect to design this palace for residence in 1636A.D. This palace was originally four times larger that its present structure, since it has seen several destruction over decades.

The palace has an arcaded octagon covered by a dome of 60-70 feet high, which is held up and supported by stone ribs.

What arouses our curiosity is how they built the palace?

The palace was built using bricks, stucco and the white egg of an yolk.




It is said that Chokkanatha Nayak the grandson of King Thirumalai Nayak has dismantled this palace to large extent which lead to distortion of its intricate design.His grandson has removed presious jewels and exquisite woodcarvings from the palace to build his own palace in Trichy or thiruchirapalli, although he could not materialise his dream of building grander palace.

During the 17th centuries the Madurai Kingdom had Portuguese, Dutch and other Europeans as traders, missionaries and visiting travellers. Over a span of 400 years many parts of the buildings were destructed.

However it was repaired and converted into use by the garrison, as granaries, store-houses, powder magazines during time of East India Company.

It was during 19th century that Lord Napier, The Governor of Madras between 1866 and 1872 paid heed to palace and began several renovation work.

This palace is a kind of hall for kings to conduct programs and competitions.The king used to conduct dance and music performances in the palace on a daily basis.Today the courtyard and the dance hall are the key attractions of the palace. The whole complex is enclosed by huge and high walls, running 300 m from east to west and 200 m from north to south. These walls have stood the taste of time till a hundred years ago.

The Thirumalainayak palace was divided into two major parts – the Swargavilasa and the Rangavilasa. These two parts of the palace housed the royal residence, theatre, shrine, apartments, armory, palanquin place, royal bandstand, quarters of workers, auditorium, religious places, queen’s harem, ponds and gardens.

The large rectangular courtyard or the Swargavilasam stands even today abutting a few other buildings that have survived even to this day. The sizable courtyard covers an area of 3,900 sq m, being surrounded by gigantic circular pillars.

The Throne Chamber lies to the west of this courtyard. The chamber is a huge room topped with a large octagonal dome. Moving further ahead, one can comes across the Dance Hall.There will exactly thousand pillars in this palace, thus Thirumalai Nayakar Mahal is also called Ayiramkaal Mandapam (meaning thousand pillar palace).

There are numerous paintings and sculptures present even today to suck the eyes of visitors. The ornate ceilings bear paintings relating to various themes of the Shiavite and the Vaishnovite. The marriage of Sundareswarar with Devi Meenakshi has also been depicted through wonderful paintings.

Paintings on the roof of the palace are worth noticing.This palace is a blend of Dravidian and Islamic architectural styles.Most of the parts of this palace is distorted and taken away during various reign in changing times.

This palace was built with foliated brickwork, while the polished texture of the palace is due to the use of chunnam which is a combination of shell lime with egg white. This palace is known for its majestic pillars, with height of about 82 feet and width of almost 19 feet.

As you enter the palace through its grand gates, you will reach a central hall with many massive pillars. This central courtyard is about 41,979 sq ft and has a circular shaped garden which is one of the most attractive spot here. Along with courtyard, the dancing hall of the palace is also worth exploring.


Swarga Vilasam or the Celestial Pavilion was used to be the throne room. We can also see the decorated throne of Nayak King. It has an arcaded octagon which is covered by a dome of about 70 feet which is supported by huge columns of circular shape and stone ribs. These columns are linked by arches and an arcaded gallery.

LIGHT AND SOUND SHOW AND VISIT TIMINGS:


Thirumalai Nayak Palace timings are from 9 AM to 5 PM. It is open for tourists on all days of the week. The lunch break at the palace is from 1 Pm to 1.30 PM.

Every evening, light and sound show about the story of Silappathikaram is organized at the palace. The show is held in English and Tamil language.

The brilliant show is one’s chance of gaining an insight into the life of king Thirumalainayak. The show particularly stresses on his profound love for arts, his victories in battles and his affection for his people.

Thirumalai Nayak Palace Sound and light show timings for English show is from 6.45 PM to 7.35 PM. The show in Tamil is held from 8 PM to 8.50 PM.

This Palace is located at a distance of only 1.2 km from the Madurai Meenakshi Temple, this palace is easily accessible via road. Thirumalai Nayak Palace is situated about 3 km away from Madurai railway station while from Madurai airport, it is about 10 km away. Tourists can either hire a cab or take one of the locally run auto rickshaws to reach this palace. They can take buses that run at regular intervals.

Comments

  1. Anjali KohliJanuary 3, 2022 at 8:08 AM

    Loved the article and has been really helpful to me. I would like to get in touch with you for more details on Thirumalai Nayakkar Mahal at Madurai. I think one can also refer here for some other information regarding it.

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