What happened in Madurai in ancient times had farreaching consequences for Tamil Nadu. “The Mughals captured the city as the result of a sibling war between Pandya kings. They were defeated by the Nayaks and the dynasty spread far and wide in Tamil country. They were once again unseated by the Mughals, led Chanda Sahib and Arcot Nawab. Subsequently, it came under the British rule. The great political churnings took place there,” said historian of the Dravida Movement K. Thirunavukkarasu.
Temple entry struggle
During the days of freedom struggle, Mahatma Gandhi visited Madurai five times and it was here he gave up his formal attire and took to wearing loincloth. The temple entry struggle led by Congress leader Vaidhyanatha Iyer not only witnessed the Dalits and Nadars entering the Meenakshi temple, but also resulted in the promulgation of The Madras Temple Entry Ordinance 1 of 1939 on July 17, 1939.
Explaining why the southern districts and Madurai were important for the Dravidian politics, Mr. Thirunavukkarasu pointed out that the conference organised by late actor S.S.Rajendran in Palani gave the much needed impetus to the DMK in the southern districts and made it popular among the people.
Mr Kannan said Madurai exhibited a higher degree of political consciousness than the rest of the State, be it the 1965 anti-Hindi protests or the politics surrounding the Dravidian parties.
Su. Venkatesan, who chronicled the 600-year-old history of Madurai in his Sahitya Akademi winning book Kaval Kottam , said the civilisation nurtured by river Vaigai had a unique place in Tamil history, culture, literature and art. “It is the only river referred to as Tamil Vaigai in Sangam literature. The people of the great city remained a fence and fought the onslaught on Tamil land,” he said.
