Education in Madurai.....

           Madurai has been an academic centre of learning for Tamil culture, literature, art, music and dance for centuries. All three assemblies of the Tamil language, the Tamil Sangam (about the 3rd century BC to the 3rd century CE), were held at Madurai. Tamil poets of different epochs participated in these assemblies, and their compositions are referred to as Sangam literature. During the third Tamil sangam, the comparative merit of the poets was decided by letting the works float in the lotus tank of the temple. It was believed that a divine force would cause the work of superior merit to float on the surface, while the inferior ones would sink.

          The American College is the oldest college in Madurai, and was established in 1881 by American Christian missionaries. The Lady Doak college, established in 1948, is the oldest women's college in Madurai. Thiagarajar College (established in 1949), Madura College (established in 1889), Fatima College (established in 1953) and M.S.S.Wakf Board College (established in 1964) are among the oldest educational institutions of the city. Madurai Kamaraj University (originally called Madurai University), established in 1966, is a state-run university which has 109 affiliated arts and science colleges in Madurai and neighbouring districts. There are 47 approved institutions of the university in and around the city, consisting of autonomous colleges, aided colleges, self-financing colleges, constituent colleges, evening colleges and other approved institutions. There are seven polytechnical schools and five Industrial training institutes (ITIs) in Madurai, with the Government ITI and the Government Polytechnic for Women being the most prominent of them all. There are two government medical institutes in Madurai (Madurai Medical College and the Homoeopathic Medical College), and there are also 11 paramedical institutes. There are seven engineering colleges in Madurai affiliated to Anna University, with the Thiagarajar College of Engineering being the oldest. The Madurai Law College, established in 1979, is one of the seven government law colleges in the state. It is administered by the Tamil Nadu Government Department of Legal Studies, and affiliated with the Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University. There are three teacher training institutes, two music colleges, three management institutes and 30 arts and sciences colleges in Madurai. The agricultural college and research institute in Madurai, started in 1965 by the state government, provides agricultural education to aspirants in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu. There are a total of 369 primary, secondary and higher secondary schools in the city.

Transport in Madurai....

Road:

          The National Highways NH 7, NH 45B, NH 208 and NH 49 pass through Madurai. The state highways passing through the city are SH-32, SH-33 and SH-72, which connect various parts of Madurai district. Madurai is one of the seven circles of the Tamil Nadu State Highway network. Madurai is the headquarters of the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (Madurai) and provides local and inter-city bus transport across seven districts, namely Madurai, Dindigul, Theni, Virudhunagar, Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi and Kanyakumari. Madurai has three major bus terminals, namely, Mattuthavani Integrated Bus Terminus (MIBT), Arappalayam (for inter city buses),and Periyar Bus stand (for intra city buses) . There are 12,754 registered three-wheeled vehicles called auto rickshaws, which are commercially available for renting within the city. In addition to the government operated city buses that are used for public transport, there are 236 registered private mini-buses that support local transportation. 

Rail:

         Madurai Junction is an important railway junction in southern Tamil Nadu and constitutes a separate division of the Southern Railway. It is the second largest revenue division in Southern railway next to the Chennai division. There are direct trains from Madurai connecting important cities in Tamil Nadu like Chennai, Mumbai, New Delhi, Banglore, Hyderabad, Trivandrum, Coimbatore, Kanyakumari, Trichy, Tirunelveli, Rameswaram, Thanjavur and Vijaywada, Calcutta, Nagpur, Bhopal. Madurai has rail connectivity with important cities and towns across India. The state government announced a Mono rail project for Madurai in 2011, which is in planning stages. 

Air:

        Madurai Airport is located 12 kilometres from the city. It is one of the important airport in Tamil Nadu. It offers domestic flight services to major cities in India and international services to Colombo, Sri Lanka (beginning 20 September 2012).  The carriers operating from the airport are Air India, Jet Airways and SpiceJet. The airport handled 5.2 lakhs passengers between Apr 2011 and Mar 2012.

 

Geography and climate of Madurai

              Madurai is located at 9.93°N 78.12°E. It has an average elevation of 101 metres. The city of Madurai lies on the flat and fertile plain of the river Vaigai, which runs in the northwest-southeast direction through the city, dividing it into two almost equal halves. The Sirumalai and Nagamalai hills lie to the north and west of Madurai. The land in and around Madurai is utilised largely for agricultural activity, which is fostered by the Periyar Dam. Madurai lies southeast of the eastern ghats, and the surrounding region occupies the plains of South India and contains several mountain spurs. The soil type in central Madurai is predominantly clay loam, while red loam and black cotton types are widely prevalent in the outer fringes of the city. Paddy is the major crop, followed by pulses, millet, oil seed, cotton and sugarcane.

            The municipal corporation of Madurai has an area of 147.977 km2. Madurai is hot and dry for eight months of the year. Cold winds are experienced during February and March as in the neighbouring Dindigul. The hottest months are from March to July. The city experiences a moderate climate from August to October, tempered by heavy rain and thundershowers, and a cool and climate from November to February. Fog and dew are rare, occurring only during the winter season. Being equidistant from mountains and the sea, it experiences similar monsoon pattern with Northeast monsoon and Southwest monsoon, with the former providing more rain during October to December. The average annual rainfall for the Madurai district is about 85.76 cm.

           Temperatures during summer generally reach a maximum of 40 °C and a minimum of 26.3 °C, although temperatures up to 42 °C are not uncommon. Winter temperatures range between 29.6 °C and 18 °C. A study based on the data available with the Indian Meteorological Department on Madurai over a period of 62 years indicate rising trend in atmospheric temperature over Madurai city, attributed to urbanisation, growth of vehicles and industrial activity. The maximum temperature of 42 °C for the decade of 2001 – 2010 was recorded in 2004 and in 2010.