When in Madurai......

Every trip to Madurai starts with a promise to self....a list of must-sees, must-dos ,not-to-forgets.....BUT, every trip to Madurai has always ended with  wringing of hands over lack of time . Always, just a day or two there. Is it ever enough , for MADURAI !....
well, Hope springs eternal. Perhaps sometime soon , a longer, more leisurely break ......

In the meanwhile, have always loved doing the same things over and over again in Madurai. The staples  apart , there are those "gundu-gundu" jasmines , the sheer maddening chaos of the pavement "mandis" which give Madurai its sobriquet Thoonga Nagaram ( The City that never sleeps), a tumultous tumble through the throbbing, timeless local market inside the beautiful Puthumandapam and , what else, the Jigarthanda from the hole- in -the- wall, "Famous Stall".

THE  MAHAL  or, to be precise The Swarga Vilasam, the wing of the original monument that still stands.Thank goodness, the stunning Dance Hall , attached to it, has also survived ....Have not yet seen The Sound and Light show ; one more for the bucket list. ( Update : Sound&Light Show , done . )

Ah, THE SHOPS  in the nadais ( ashtashakthi mantapam ) and the puthumantapam......

So exciting to browse through the wares. One never knows what might turn up where. No where else in the world can one find shops with better or more valuable interior decoration!

And then, THE TEMPLE ....discovering something new to be enraptured about each time... Dropped jaws never close . What is left to add in words or by photograph  to the millions of adulatory narratives already broadcast by generations of  visitors ?
Yet, a few views to round up, below 

Update : Security has been notched up . Handbags , Cameras or mobile phones not allowed within temple. All stuff to be deposited at a goods counter.  Just the wallet allowed. And everyone passes through the metal detector . Alas ,that a temple should become like this !

So glad could get these pictures long ago when things weren't so paranoid. 

THOUSAND PILLARED HALL  ( MUSEUM )

 The Thousand Pillared Hall Temple Museum , feast for eyes.....and the cool interior, a nice resting place for visitors needing a nap ! Sleeping in a museum ? yes, 'this happens only in India ' We live life without full stops or commas . 

JIGARTHANDA 

Not forgetting the Jigarthanda : Satisfyingly Thick , mildly sweet , justifyably cold and reasonably priced. A hole in the wall shop is supposed to bev the Original and the Best . So lines - and waiting period -are long.