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Culture and tourism

Madurai is popularly called Thoonga Nagaram meaning the city that never sleeps, on account of the active night life. The city attracts a large number of tourists from within the country and abroad. About 9,100,000 tourists visited Madurai in 2010, out of which foreigners numbered 524,000. The palace complex of Thirumalai Nayak Palace was constructed in the Indo-Saracenic style by Thirumalai Nayakar in 1636 CE. It is a national monument maintained by the Tamil Nadu Archaeological Department. The daily sound and light show organized by the department explains the virtues of King Thirumalai and the features of the palace. The palace of Rani Mangamma has been renovated to house one of the five Gandhi Sanghralayas (Gandhi Memorial Museum, Madurai) in the country. It includes a part of the blood-stained garment worn by Gandhi when he was assassinated by Nathuram Godse. A visit by Martin Luther King Jr. to the museum inspired him to lead peaceful protests against discrimination.

The Eco park, situated in Tallakulam, features fountains and lighting in trees using optical fibres. Rajaji children park, maintained by the Corporation of Madurai, is situated between the Gandhi museum and the Tamukkam grounds – it has a visitor average of 5,000 per day during holidays and 2,000–3,000 on working days. MGR Race Course Stadium is an athletic stadium which has a synthetic track and a swimming pool. Several National Meets are held here. It also hosts several international and national level Kabbadi Championships. Railway grounds at Arasaradi, Medical college grounds & Madura College Grounds are the full-fledged cricket stadiums in the city.

The people of Madurai celebrate numerous festivals, which include Meenakshi Tirukkalyanam, the Chittirai Festival and the Car Festival. The annual 10 day Meenakshi Tirukalyanam festival, also called Chittirai festival, celebrated during April–May every year attracts 1 million visitors. Legend has it that Hindu god Vishnu, as Alagar, rode on a golden horse to Madurai to attend the celestial wedding of Meenakshi (Parvati) with Sundareswarar (Shiva). During the Cradle festival, the festive idols of Meenakshi and Sundareswarar are taken in procession to a mirror chamber and set on a rocking swing for nine days. Avanimoolam festival is celebrated during the month of September when the 64 sacred games of Hindu god Shiva, thiruvilayadal are recited. The Thepporchavam festival or float festival is celebrated in the month of January – February, on the full moon day of Tamil Month Thai to celebrate the birth anniversary of King Thirumalai Nayak. The decorated icons of the Meenakshi and her consort are taken out in a procession from the Meenakshi Temple to the Mariamman Teppakulam. The icons are floated in the tank on a raft decked with flowers and flickering lamps.

Jallikattu is the most popular historical sport in Tamil Nadu, which is a part of the Pongal festival (harvest festival) celebrated during January. The bull taming event is held in the villages surrounding Madurai when people from the neighbouring villages throng the open grounds to watch man and bull pitting their strength against each other. Although the event was banned by the Supreme Court of India in 2014, large protests in 2017 led to the sport's reinstatement. Santhanakoodu festivals in Madurai are celebrated on various days during the Islamic calendar year to commemorate Islamic saints.