Madurai Travel Guide: The Meenakshi Temple and the Deep South

Madurai's Meenakshi Temple, with its riot of colour and its nightly procession, is the temple that stays with everyone on a Tamil Nadu trip. The city anchors the deep south of the temple trail, alongside Rameswaram and Kanyakumari further on.

• The Meenakshi Temple, with its carved gopuram towers
• The temple's nightly procession
• The wider deep south loop on to Rameswaram and Kanyakumari

A night or two is typical, as the temple town is usually visited on the way to Rameswaram and Kanyakumari at the southern tip, on itineraries of ten days or more.

November to March is the season: warm, dry and festival-rich, with the Pongal harvest festival in January among the highlights. April to June is intensely hot and best avoided.

Madurai has a domestic airport useful for shortening the trail, and is otherwise reached by private car or train as part of the wider temple trail. The temple town has comfortable, well-located hotels near the sights.