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Park Plaza, Madurai

Overview :
	Hotel Park Plaza is located in the heart of the 'Temple City' of Madurai and very near the famous Meenakshi Amman Temple. This classy hotel is well known for quality service and super comfort. The Railway station and the central Bus station are within walking distance from the hotel.

Facilities :
	Complimentary Break-fast, 24 Hours Room Service, Same day Laundry and dry Cleaning, Attached Bath with running Hot and Cold Water, Doctor on call, Travel Desk, Car Park, 24 Hours Internet, Safe deposit Lockers, Gift Shop / Boutique, Currency Exchange (All Currencies 24/Hrs), All Major Credit Cards are Accepted.

Hotel Park Plaza offers two kinds of restaurants for the dining pleasure of guests,  "The Park" is at our lobby level and "The Temple View" on our roof top. The Park is fully air-conditioned. And The Temple View beckons you with a fantastic view of the Meenakshi Amman Temple and its imposing towers. As mentioned earlier, The Temple View serves both vegetarian and Non-vegetarian dishes. There is also the "Sky High Bar" to boost your spirits. The Park" is a multi cuisine restaurant at lobby level. It serves Indian, Chinese and Continental dishes. Our menu is known for its quality and variety. One of our specialties is preparing tasty dishes in the Tandoori Oven. Our dishes have received numerous compliments from our guests. Breakfast at "The Park" is offered from 7:00 a.m. until 10:00 a.m. If you are a cornflakes lover, "The Park" is the place for you. Lunch is served from 12:00 Noon until 3:00 p.m., and the dinner from 7:00 p.m. until 11:00 p.m. The Temple View", our roof-top restaurant has been appropriately named for its unique view of the Meenakshi Amman Temple and its magnificent towers. "The Temple View" is open from 6:00 p.m. until 11:00 p.m. Vegetarian and Non-vegetarian dishes are served. Food is scrumptious, the mood is romantic, and the view has no parallel. Sky High, our well stocked bar, equipped with our well trained bartender will more than satisfy your 'social' needs before dinner and/or after dinner. Name your drink and it will be ready for you in a minute and served in style.

Recreation :
Fitness and fun include: Bookshop, Fitness Centre, Souvenir shop, Swimming pool & Tennis .Beach and sports include: Badminton & Tennis. Ayurvedic centre that offers traditional oil massages and rejuvenation treatments

Madurai is a 2600 years old historical city surrounded by elegant natural plantations, technical institutes and textile mills situated in Tamilnadu, India. The city is known for its rich heritage, culture and historical background in the sense that Lord Shiva himself performed sixty-four wonders called "Thiruvilaiyadals" in Madurai many centuries ago. Madurai is located on banks of river Vaigai and was the capital of Pandya kingdom. Madurai is the busiest commercial center in south Tamilnadu. This sacred city of south India attracts thousands of pilgrims and visitors from India and abroad. Legend says, Madurai was once called forest KADAMBAVANAM. Once a merchant named Dhananjaya who was passing through the forest, saw INDRAN - the king of Gods, worshipping a SWAYAMBHULINGAM under a kadamba tree in the forest. This was reported immediately to the king KULASHEKARA PANDYAN. Kulashekara cleared the forest and built a magnificent Sri Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple around the sacred LINGAM and he built a lotus shaped city around the temple. On the naming ceremony of the city, Lord Shiva appeared magnificently to bless the city. The divine nectar (madhu) from the matted locks of Shiva fell on the blessed city. So, then the city was named "Madhurapuri". Madurai has reference in the great Indian epics - Ramayana , Kautilyas and Arthasastra. As early as the 302BC, Megasthanes visited Madurai. Great travel-historians like Pliny (77AD) and Ptolemy (140AD) have made reference to Madurai in their travelogues. Marcopolo visited Madurai in 1293AD followed by Ibn Batuta in 1333AD. Later many people from Rome and Greece visited Madurai and established trade with the Pandya kings.

During the 10 century AD, Madurai was captured by Cholas. The Cholas ruled Madurai from 920 AD till the beginning of the 13th century. In 1223 AD Pandyas regained their kingdom and once again become prosperous. Pandian Kings patronised Tamil language in a great way. During their period, many master-pieces were created. "Silapathikaram", the great epic in Tamil was written based on the story of Kannagi who burnt Madurai as a result of the injustice caused to her husband Kovalan. In April 1311, Malik Kafur, the general of Alauddin Khilji who was then the ruler of Delhi, reached Madurai and raided and robbed the city for precious stones, jewels, and other rare treasures. This led to the subsequent raids by other Muslim Sultans. In 1323, the Pandya kingdom including Madurai became a province of the Delhi empire, under the Tughlaks. The 1371, the Vijayanagar dynasty of Hampi captured Madurai and Madurai became part of the Vijayanagar empire. Kings of this dynasty were in habit of leaving the captured land to governors called Nayaks. This was done for the efficient management of their empire. The Nayaks paid fixed amount annually to the Vijayanagar empire. After the death of Krishna Deva Raya (King of Vijayanagar empire) in 1530 AD, the Nayaks became independent and ruled the territories under their control. Among Nayaks, Thirumalai Nayak (1623-1659) was very popular, even now he is popular among people, since, it was he who contributed to the creation of many magnificent structures in and around Madurai. The Raja Gopuram of the MeenakshiAmmanTemple, The Pudu Mandapam and The Thirumalai Nayakar's Palace are living monuments to his artistic fervor. Madurai started slipping into the hands of the British's East India Company. In 1781, British appointed their representatives to look after Madurai. George Procter was the first collector of Madurai. Now after Indian independence, Madurai is one of the major districts of TamilnaduState. Madurai is surrounded by several mountains. It is famous for Jasmine Flowers. Jasmine flowers are transported to various other cities of India from Madurai. Kodaikanal is the beautiful hill resort situated near Madurai. The city is surrounded by three small prominent hills which are called the Anaimalai, Pasumalai and Nagamalai named after their resemblance to an Elephant, a Cow and a Snake respectively.

This temple is the city's main attraction. This temple is nearly 2000 years old  placed in the heart of the old town - a splendid example of Dravidian architecture. The present temple was designed in 1560 by Vishwanatha Nayak and subsequently built during the reign of Tirumalai Nayak. There are four entrances to the temple with an area of six hectares. Each of its 12 towers has the height of 45 to 50 meters. The Potrama Raikulam or the Golden Lotus Tank is the place where the Tamil literacy society, called Sangam used to meet to decide the merits of the work presented to them. The temple museum has 985 richly carved pillars and each one surpasses the other in beauty.

Tirumalai Nayak Mahal :
This Indo-Saracenic building was constructed in 1523 and was originally four times large are today. Sound and light show on the life of the Tirumalai Nayak and the story of the Silapathikaram are conduced daily.

Gandhi Museum :
	The 300-year-old palace now converted into Museum has a picture gallery, a library of personal memorable of the Mahatma Gandhi and an exhibit of South Indian handicrafts and village industries.

Vaniyur Mariamman Teppakulam :
This enormous temple tank is fed by water from the Vaigai river. The tank has a mandapam at the center enshrining Lord Vigneshwara. A colorful float festival is held in this tank every year.

Hotels In Madurai
Fortune Pandiyan	GRT Regency
Heritance	Park Plaza
The Gateway Pasumalai