Thirumalai Nayak Palace is situated in the Madurai city, at a distance of approximately 2 km to the southeast of the Meenakshi Temple. The palace was constructed by King Thirumalai Nayak of Tamil Nadu, in the year 1636 and used to serve as his official residence. An Italian architect designed the edifice as per the Indo-Saracenic style of architecture. Thirumalai Nayak Palace of India, as we see today, is nothing in comparison to its original structure, which was at least four times bigger in size.
The palace was basically divided into two parts, one of them is known as the Swargavilasa (Celestial Pavilion), while the other is Rangavilasa (Pleasure Pavilion).
These two complexes jointly housed the royal residence, theatre, shrine, apartments, armory, palanquin place, royal bandstand, quarters, pond and even a garden. The main attraction of the Thirumalai Nayak Palace comprises of its courtyard and the dancing hall. A massive wall, with a height of almost 12 meters, used to run around the complex and was present till a century ago.
There are approximately 248 pillars inside the Thirumalai Nayak Palace, each of them being 58 feet in height and 5 feet in diameter. There is also a square building of black stone, situated inside a dome-shaped hall. The building consists of a chamber, which has been constructed out of ivory. Inside this chamber is a bejeweled throne, used by the King during the Navratri celebrations. In the western side of the Swargavilasa, the harem was situated, along with the queen's apartments.
Light and Sound shows are organized at the Thirumalai Nayak Palace for the general public. These shows illustrate the story of Silappathikaram in both Tamil as well as English language. Each show goes on for half an hour and eulogizes the virtues of the King Thirumalai.
1 comment:
Your blog is full of information. I’m really impressed and appreciated your effort. The Thirumalai Nayak Palace is a historical place in Madurai city. I’m a tourist and recently came back to celebrate my friend’s birthday by celebration tours quincy ma. I’ve visited India many times but had never chance to go there. After reading your blog I feel this city has covered a wide range of historical places for visitors. I’m a big lover of history. So I want to go there as soon as possible. Good Job and Keep it up.
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