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Madurai Heritage Tour: Meenakshi Temple & More
4.9
24 Ratings
Madurai
Discover Madurai’s 2500-year heritage with a private tour. Explore Meenakshi Temple, Thirumalai Nayakar Palace, and more. Support local communities.
Discover Madurai’s 2500-year heritage with a private tour. Explore Meenakshi Temple, Thirumalai Nayakar Palace, and more. Support local communities.
Duration:
8 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple - We visit the Madurai Meenakshi Temple, one of the largest Temples of the World and an Architectural marvel. Over the last 2500 years Madurai Meenakshi Temple has been the lifeline of the City of Madurai. Madurai Meenakshi Temple has played a crucial role in promoting Tamil Art, Music, Dance & Culture. In fact,…
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Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple - We visit the Madurai Meenakshi Temple, one of the largest Temples of the World and an Architectural marvel. Over the last 2500 years Madurai Meenakshi Temple has been the lifeline of the City of Madurai. Madurai Meenakshi Temple has played a crucial role in promoting Tamil Art, Music, Dance & Culture. In fact, Madurai Meenakshi Temple is supposed to have been the host of the third assembly of Tamil Sangam, the ancient Literature Meet. As many as 30000 sculptures can be found in the Madurai Meenakshi Note that the following items are not allowed inside the Meenakshi temple. You can leave these either in the hotel itself or in the car.
Mobiles, sharp metallic objects, perfume/sprays and lip sticks. -
Thirumalai Nayakar Mahal - We visit the magnificent Thirumala Nayakar Palace. This was build by the Nayak Kings in 1636. The building we see today was the main Palace where the King lived. The original Palace Complex was four times bigger than the present structure and had a royal residence, theatre, shrine, apartments, armoury, palanquin place, royal bandstand, quarters, ponds and gardens.
Its architecture inspired a whole genre of Indo-Saracenic style of buildings during British India. -
Gandhi Memorial Museum - Gandhi Museum is located the old palace of Rani Mangammal. The museum brings alive the freedom struggle. The Gandhian movement is well depicted as a picture gallery.
Madurai was chosen for this museum as Gandhiji took important decisions during his visits to Madurai. in 1921 he decided to give up his rich dressing pattern when he was visiting Madurai. The doors of Meenakshi Amman temple were thrown open to Harijans in Madurai and the battle against untouchability had a win. Gandhiji visited the temple in 1946 along with the Harijans and that was a defining moment in this struggle. - Vilacheri - Vilachery is a potters village near Madurai. Over 200 families live here and most are into pottery. They make dolls for scores of festivals round the year. The paper mache dolls made here adorn South Indian homes during the 9 day festival of Navratri.
- Banana market - We end the Madurai tour with a bazaar walk. Madurai has a famous wholesale market for bananas. We will walk past many different varieties of Bananas. The tour ends with a sip of Jigarthanda , the most famous local cold beverage of Madurai!
What's Included
- Lunch
- Private car
- Entrance charges
- Guide
- Lunch
- Private car
- Entrance charges
- Guide
Additional Information
Experience cultural immersion in Madurai with its 2500 year old heritage at Meenakshi Temple, architectural marvel of Thirumalai Nayakar Palace, the charm of a Potters village, Gandhi museum and a local bazaar walk with a sip of Jigarthanda, the local cold beverage!
Our company is committed to strengthening local communities. We help train and employ…
Experience cultural immersion in Madurai with its 2500 year old heritage at Meenakshi Temple, architectural marvel of Thirumalai Nayakar Palace, the charm of a Potters village, Gandhi museum and a local bazaar walk with a sip of Jigarthanda, the local cold beverage!
Our company is committed to strengthening local communities. We help train and employ local guides and support local businesses to ensure travel dollars stay where they are spent.
Location
Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple
Venmani Rd, Sellur
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.9
(24 Ratings)
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208tamsinp
Apr 3, 2025
Excellent tour thank you - Had a fantastic time on this tour with myself and my parents. Our tour guide, Meenakshi, was not only highly knowledgeable but went above and beyond to help us and keep us comfortable all day when we were struggling in the heat. For example he helped us shopping for a sarong, kept us hydrated with lots of chilled water and could answer all our many questions.
He even took pictures of the 3 of us all day so now we have lovely memories all together which is priceless to us.
Will encourage friends to visit Madurai on their travels from the UK and recommend Meenakshi and the 5 senses tours.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Samwoodward
Mar 4, 2025
Great time in Madurai - This visit was part of our third private tour with 5 Senses (first tour, So. India for a month; second No. India for 5.5 weeks; third East and South India, one month). You might have guessed that we are very happy with the company. All three tours were fantastic, this one no exception.
This was our second visit to Madurai--we love the Meenakshi temple! The frustration is that no phones or cameras are allowed inside, but at least we have the memories (and images from the web.) The market and street food walks also were fun.
The primary strength of 5 Senses is its people. The owner, Mr. Narayanan, is a great travel planning partner (he’ll work with you to craft exactly the trip you want) and he is super-responsive during trips if any problems arise. I am confident that Narayanan will fix it if it needs fixing—he has helped us several times in that way, and he has done it quickly.
The state-based “cultural ambassadors” he has recruited (the guides who accompany you for days, across multiple sites) are excellent and soon become friends. For this month-long tour, I’d particularly like to call out Kannan (Tamil Nadu) and Mohan, and Chandra Shekar (Karnataka). If you are touring other parts of the country, we highly recommend Balwinder (Punjab and Rajasthan) and Vivek and Ram Sewak (Varanasi, Khajuraho and environs).
It is basically a fool’s errand to try to price shop local tour operators—there are too many variables, including the type of accommodation, the quality of guides and the quality of transport (both of which can’t be assessed ahead of time). That said, over the course of the three tours, we feel that 5 Senses has been very good value for money. And I can say for certain that you would pay three times as much for the same Smithsonian or Nat Geo or other corporate tour, plus you’d be on a bus with many other folks and stuck with the group schedule. With 5 Senses you’re in your own car deciding where and when you want to go, where you want to eat, and when you want to take it easy.
My advice to friends looking for a private tour in India is “don’t bother contacting other companies, just talk to 5 Senses. You won’t regret it.”
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Luba
Feb 1, 2025
The only way fully experience Madurai - Spent a weekend in the southern city of Madurai. Much like Miami - there are three types of weather: hot, hotter and hottest however the main reason for my journey was to visit of an incredible Meenakshi temple complex and explore the vibrant Tamil Nadu culture. All of my time spent with my wonderful guide Meenakshi and our driver made this experience unforgettable. We covered absolutely everything what is there to see in one day with detailed explanations and insights into the daily lives Tamil people.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Alan_d
Jan 13, 2025
Day tour - Meenakshi was so knowledgeable that he made my trip a pleasure. He was friendly and helpful. The driver also was first class. Nice clean car and good well mannered driving.
Review provided by Viator
Jaymaegz2012
Dec 18, 2024
Madurai tour - Had an amazing guided tour in Madurai with Muthu. Easygoing, informal, and paced perfectly to suit me. He’s incredibly knowledgeable, great company, and made the whole day enjoyable. This was my first solo trip, after a bit of a struggle in Thanjavur), meeting Muthu was exactly what I needed. Highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting Madurai.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Maldormi
Dec 11, 2024
A quality guided tour - Thanks to this tour, not cheap it is understood, one can visit many (essential?) different places of Madurai: the Meenakshi temple (in partial restoration during the period I was there) , the Gandhi Museum, the basin of the Mariammam temple, a typical craft village and some other points of interest. I was lucky enough to benefit from a guide who speaks Meenakshi French well and who really made visiting the temple interesting and affordable. There is so much to see that without it I would not have known or looked at it, especially the painting of the Shiva lingam on the ceiling with a confusing optical effect... to discover but especially to find! It also allowed me to put in order the many gods of the Hindu pantheon. The east temple is dedicated to Shiva and his wife Parvati &, &, & such and such avatars, vehicle, guardians, son (Ganesh), daughter (Skanda). His explanations seem to have brought much even if I thought I knew this mythology; indeed alive and active here.
Madurai is not an easy city first, the center is everywhere and nowhere. I'm finally adding the vegetable market with bananas...
Very nice experience.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Magho_s
Dec 1, 2024
“Fascinating and educational tour of Madurai – an unforgettable experience!” - Here is a revised version with a more interesting and educational tone:
The tour of Madurai was just great! Our guide was not only incredibly competent, but also very personable and full of exciting stories. We explored impressive sights and gained deeper insights into the fascinating history and culture of the city. I've learned so much that I'll think about it for a long time.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Martisilver98
Jul 31, 2024
Lovely and comprehensive experience - Me and my friend had a really good experience with this tour and our guide: the driver came pick us up at the hotel on time, water was available and he was very welcoming and helpful when we asked questions about the city. Our tour guide was extremely prepared and gave us a lot of information both from the mythology and religion and from the historical and anthropological perspective which we really appreciated. He was also available to guide us to gift shopping when we asked.
The tour comprised two main temple sights in Madurai, the raja palace and Gandhi museum, but also few quick stops at the fruit and banana market and the terra cotta artigianal shops in the outskirts of the city.
Lovely experience!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
920katim
Jul 30, 2024
A nice day in Madurai - My guide, Muthu was a very kind man with a deep knowledge about the history of Madurai. We started by the visit of the main temple, the Meenakshi Amman temple, later we were in the Nayakar Mahal palace, water tank, etc. We tasted local specialities like jugarthanda, ref bananas in the local banana market, and had a good vegetarian thali for lunch. It was a highly interesting visit, thank you!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
H8341wptimom
Jul 8, 2024
Enjoyable tour, some reservations - This enjoyable, informative tour introduced us to many facets of Madurai, ranging from its ancient temples to its vibrant banana markets. Our guide - Meenakshi - was kind, knowledgeable and tuned into our needs. I did have a couple of reservations, however. Meenakshi’s storytelling style wasn’t always the clearest, and the Gandhi memorial museum was closed for renovations, weakening the second half of the tour. That said, it was still a very positive experience!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
