This week, The Musafir Stories speaks to returning guest, Sahana Kulur from https://vacaywork.com
Today's destination: Madurai, Tamil Nadu!
Nearest Airport: Madurai International airport, IXM
Nearest Railway Station: Madurai Junction, MDU 
Prerequisites:  NA
Packing: Pack according to the weather conditions, summers can be hot.
Time of the year: October
Length of the itinerary: 2-4 days
Itinerary Highlights: 

Sahana starts the episode  with some backstories about her travels to Sri Lanka, the inspiration for this trip - from a world famous architect, Geoffery Bawa to the coolest drink in South Inida - JigarThanda. 
We cover the history and background of Madurai as well as the popular legends about the city and its main attraction, the Meenakshi temple. 
The points of interest include a visit to 

Meenakshi Amman temple - the most iconic structure and soul of Madurai 
Koodal Azagar temple - an experience going to the rooftop of a temple and observing the gopurams up close. 
Thepakkulam temple - the floating temple
Tirumalai Nayak Palace - the palace of the Nayaka king and location of some very popular songs from Guru to Bombay. The palace has a museum and a sound and light show as well.
Markets of Madurai including the Pudhu Mandapam, Banana market, Sungundi sarees, Madurai Malli or jasmine, the kumkum and the dasara golu or dolls
The cuisine of Madurai includes the variety of idlis and dosas, ragi puttu, Kari dosa, idiyappam, keerai vada, mutton chukka, bun parota, jigar thanda, paruthi paal among others. 
Other options include a visit to the archaeological site of Keeladi, Vellacheri doll village and a number of jain caves and rock sculptures

We wrap up the discussion with other points of interest in the vicinity including Chettinad, Tanjavur, Chennai that one can plan for an extended itinerary. 

Links:
Link to the blog post: https://vacaywork.com/madurai-travel-blog/
Link to Sahana’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sahana.kulur/
Link to Sahana’s website: https://vacaywork.com
Sahana’s previous episode on Bijapur: 
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0sfbo4CGkeJJImd1Acx5K1?si=luN1sAtdSo63QvhK_fqTeg
Photo by Ben Chobot on Unsplash
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