MADURAI

Thiruailai Nayak Palace

Thirumalai Nayak Palace was built by the ruler of the southern half of Tamil Nadu, Thirumalai Nayak, in 1636. Today, only a part of the enormous palace remains, this is the main palace where the king lived. Originally the complex was at least four times bigger than what remains today. The drawing to the left is by Thomas Daniell, dated 1798, and shows the ruins present at that time. The palace was used by the king as residence and for festivals, as well as daily dance and music performances. Thirumalai Nayaka`s gradson, Chokkanatha Nayak destroyed the palace and transfered the valuables to other palaces during his time as a ruler. During 19th century, Lord Napier, governor of Madras between 1866 and 1872 made several renovation works. It is said that there were hired an Italian architect for the design task, witch might be the reason why the palace is built with a blend of european as well as hindu and islamic architecture elements.

The building is famous for its stuccowork, arches and the massive pillars of up to 20 m in height. The interior is richly decorated while the exterior is more simple. When entering into the gates of the palace, the visitor enters into present day’s huge central courtyard measuring 3,700 m². The courtyard is surrounded by massive circular pillars. The structure was constructed using foliated brickwork and the surface details and finish in stucco called chunnam using chunnam (shell lime) mixed with egg to obtain a smooth and glossy texture. The pillars supporting the arches are 13m tall and are again joined by foliated brickwork. The pavilions covered with gold are on either side of the courtyard.

Madurai Club - Heritage Madurai Hotel by Geoffrey Bawa

Madurai club was initially a club only for european members of Madurai Mills. When the general manager, Martin Henry, decided to sell the old club he asked the Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa to design the new club for both the indian and european staff members of the Madurai Mills. Henry wanted that the material used for the new club should all be found within 10 kilometres from the site. Bawa liked the suggestion. He used honey-coloured stone from the Nagamalai Hill to create structural columns, and the stone slabs from an old mill were used for the floors. Bawa and Henry broke their own rule of maximum 10-kiometres, and bought two old Chettinad doors in a town west of Madurai. These were also included in the new club, one to separate the bar from the restaurant. Bacause of the different cultures of the indian and european members of the club, there where some challenges to organise the programs of the club. For instance, the bar had to be hidden from the direct view of some of the religious members, and there had to be one vegetarian and one non-vegetarian kitchen. Bawa soved this, in organising the common areas of the club around the billiard room. From this you can enter both the bar, restaurant, lounge and a library. The residential accomodation is segregated from these areas. The design is kept simple and strong with its subtle spatial organization, the care for spatial hiearchy and the connection of exterior, interior and semi-interior spaces through axial views. The walls are made by rubble stones, the columns of rough-hewn stone from local quarry and the roofs of clay tile on corrugated cement sheeting.

Gandhi Memorial Museum

The Gandhi Memorial Museum of Madurai is one of five Gandhi museums in India. It is housed by the historic Tamukkam Palace, that belonged to Rani Mangammal, the queen regent of the Nayak Dynasty. The palace was built as a summer residence. The building was later under the occupation of the Nawab of Carnatic, the East India Company and a few others. Finally the Palace had remained for many years as the official residence of the British District Collector of Madurai. In 1955 the palace with about 13 acres of land, was gifted by the Tamil Nadu State Government to the All India Gandhi Smarak Nidhi for the purpose of housing Gandhi Memorial Museum. The original building was renovated and a complete new wing on the northern side was constructed for the Library, Open Air Theatre and also several other buildings. The museum today informs about Gandhi and India’s struggle for independence from 1757 to 1947. It holds a collection including the blood-stained dhoti (long loincloth) that Gandhi was wearing when he was assassinated in Delhi in 1948 and letters written by Gandhi to Adoltf Hitler and the freedom fighter and poet Subramania Bharati.