Madurai was purely a food trip for us with some temple and spot visits in between our meals. We started our journey from Kochi, and had decided to take a bus to and fro as all trains were fully booked, and this was decided only 3 days ago.
Apart from this beautiful mural at the Ernakulam KSRTC bus station, it looked like it could fall down any minute and was in dire need of a renovation. If you wait long enough the mosquitos could have lifted you up to your destination huhu.
KSRTC (Kerala, the OG) and also TNSRTC have online booking for their buses which was very convenient and contrary to my expectations, both were well managed. KSRTC’s was a Super Fast bench seat bus and SETC’s a Super Deluxe two seater pushback. KSRTC's was a Madurai special at 19:45 from the station and return was by 21:00 from MGR station. But overall the KSRTC was much more airy and comfortable whereas SETC was a bit suffocating which caused one or the other person to started retching every 30 min and a stomach mishap myself. Buses, never again.😄
We reached earlier than expected around 05:30 am near the Periyar bus stand. We were little “adventurous” this time and had not booked our stay. After a filter coffee and chaya, and some asking around/checking out rooms/reviews we checked into Hotel New College House. Almost every hotel in Madurai were rated below 4 but had thousands of reviews. Here it was ₹1250 for a non AC double room for 2 including breakfast. I hoped they had an option without breakfast however. We were able to check in at 05:30 am and the 24hr checkout meant that we needed to checkout by 05-06:30 am the next day and not that we could checkout any time of the day like I thought. The room was okay-okay, but it was close to everything. They had mosquito nets, but still had mosquitos coming in, probably through the bathroom windows. Extra sheets and soap were provided when requested.
All about the food
We had our breakfast at the hotel because we had to, and it was decent. The spread had Idli, dosa, poori and different chutneys. We went right back to our room for a nap.
First place for the day was Shri Koodal Azhagar Temple. It’s a beautiful temple with huge pillars and sculptured gopurams (towers). Unfortunately the temple was going through some renovations, but there were devotees coming in still. We sat in peace for about an hour inside watching different people and surrounding sculptures.
Next destination was an Ilaneer sarbath (Coconut Sarbath) shop near Meenakshi Bazaar by the Highway 85. We both loved the sarbath and it was super refreshing; this was the only item they served.
Up next was Thirumalai Nayakkar Mahal. Only a few parts of the palace are left standing and as beautiful as it was, there was almost no inch of any wall without vandalism. There was a poster by the entrance which said it was a protected UNESCO World Heritage site in Tamil Nadu (hard to believe and no signs of it) but the only reference I could find was this 2010 The Hindu article mentioning it’s tentative plans.
Almost all of the Madurai trip was covered on foot and we had walked around 14km on the first day and 9kms on our second! We started walking towards our lunch spot Amsavalli Bhavan for some biriyani. We went in expecting some overrated food, as most famous places tend to be, but this one was bingo. We went there around 12:30 for lunch, and there was no rush at all for the AC place. The mutton biriyani was suppeerr. Soup was also good. Apple mixture was great too, but too expensive. I didn't quite like the mutton kola balls though, found it too dry. They accept only cash.
We started walking again towards our stay through this beautiful banana market. The mixture of colours and the long street of hanging bananas was a perfect set up for any amateur photographers.
On our way, we also stopped to have The Famous Jigarthanda. Almost every other Madurai recommendation sentence ends with “..and don't forget to try the Jigarthanda”. The Famous Jigarthanda actually had a branch open in Kochi for a brief time. Although I don't recall being very impressed by it, the one in Madurai was just kidilam, so was the ‘basanthi’.
The weather in Madurai around this time of the year(January end) was not too bad. It was hot during the day but still forgiving and pretty chilly in the morning. What’s unforgiving though is the dust! There were inches of sand by the roads and we had to wear masks almost all the time.
In the evening we went out for a coffee (possibly our 4/5th cup?) and for the famous halwa from Prema Vilas. It was very unlike the halwas us malayalees are familiar with. This one was slightly warm and soft, wrapped in a leaf. They also had paal kovai and many types of different snacks. Sorry for the lack of photos, we had it all before remembering about taking photos, as always.
Dinner was from Murugan Idli shop where they serve non-idli items as well. We tried the chettinad masala dosa, ghee podi dosa and some paniyarams. They had 4 types of chutneys and waiters who are very keen on refilling them as soon as you finish one. I like. The food was delicious! We bought one idli podi packet for ourselves and walked back to our hotel. There were roadside stalls which were selling paniyarams and paruthipaal (cotton seed payasam) but we were too full to try anything. And this marked the end of day 1 feast.
Day 2
There were a few other places to visit in Madurai but we didn't travel much and decided to stick to only the nearby places in order to keep the day less hectic. Day two was all about the Madurai Meenaki Amman Kovil. The temple pretty much represents Tamil Nadu because they have it on their logo.
Since we had checked in at 05:30 am, we had to check out by 06:30 am. We had our filter coffee and breakfast at Sree Sabarees nearby. I had marked this place down to have ney dosa and pongal, but they had only idli and vada at 7 am, so we both had the same and left for the temple.
The temple has multiple entrances and from what locals told us they had locker service at every tower as well. We went in though the west tower and deposited our phones and backpacks. Bag deposit was charged for Rs 2 per bag, mobile phones were kept separately in a locker for a charge of Rs 10. Shoes/chappals could be deposited for no fee. The lady at the counter was extra rude to everyone, for no reason.
We had all the time in the world so we took the free darshanam queue instead of the paid one. It was not very crowded at 07:30 in the morning, but the paid queue seemed to move faster as it’s less twisted as we enter the temple. We struck up a casual conversation with an old uncle in front of us, who for the better or the worse decided to be our free guide. Pavam, he took us to all the corners of the temple explaining each detail, mostly in sign language because my Tamil is not as good as I thought, and this somehow made him mute, even though I can understand the language very well (I think). I hope this humble, benevolent Raja(his name) lives a long and happy life.
We managed to kill 3-4 hours without our phones (who knew) inside the temple, visiting the thousand pillars and another rude lady at the counter (₹20), an elephant near the ladoo making hall, and just circling the temple area. The temple also had annadanam (free food) arrangements, but we had "non-veg" plans. We took a bus from Periyar bus stand to Madurai Corporation Eco Park. Even the bus conductor was in no mood and we almost generalised all Madurai people to be rude, if it were not for the super sweet old couple who helped us with the bus stops and routes.
Lunch for the day was from Amma Mess and we tried as many things as we could including pigeon meat and naatu kozhi (country chicken). Pigeon meat was very similar to kaada (quail) but a little fatty. Naatu kozhi didn't feel like a free-roaming chicken though. We also tried boneless crab meat (such less effort, much taste) and bone marrow omelette. There's also a Chandran Mess nearby with similar menu.
After this, we went to the park to kill some time, and expected to see couples under the trees. But it was full of people studying for the government exams! We found so many people of different age groups studying alone or in groups. Unexpected pleasant sight. The main park was closed for the day.
After an afternoon siesta at the park, we headed for some coffee from Vishalam Coffee shop and then to Vishal de maal to watch an Ajith padam (Thunivu) to complete the TamilNadu experience and also for the AC. The film was mediocre but Ajith and Manju Warrier looked stunning. I spent most of my time watching Djokovic v Tsitsipas AO 2023 final while Sruthi took a small nap.
Perfectly timed as it was a long movie, we headed for our final food spot - Madurai Bun Parotta Kadai. The bun porotta was layered and fluffy but nothing special about it. The mutton chukka and the other curries were also okay.
We took a shared auto to the MGR bus station aka Muttathavani for our 21:00 bus. The bus stand was huge compared to EKM bus stand but was littered everywhere and very close in terms of mosquitos.
After a 'mixture' (mix juice) from one of the shops, we headed our way back home.
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