User:Ka mazhai20/My sandbox

MY Temple City Madurai

The temple city of Madurai is situated at a distance of 307 miles south of Tamil Nadu on the main railway line. This is decidedly the oldest city of South India, truly representing Dravidian culture. European scholars have compared it to Athens of Greece. It was in the past the seat of the Tamil Academy (the Tamil Sangam) .... It is estimated that there are 33 million carvings in the Madurai temple. The temple stands in the centre of the town and main roads run roughly parallel to the four sides. A writer has described the architecture as follows: "The architecture is almost purely Dravidian - its characteristics being the pyramidal towers of colossal height dominating the surrounding landscape for miles around; the rectangular enclosures one within the other like a China box; the use of the flat roof and the entire absence of the arch or dome; delicate sculpture worked in ponderous material, and finally a partiality for long galleries interspersed with sculptured pillars... 'Ref:R .K.Das in Temples of Tamil Nadu '