Madura Gazetteer

The more religiously inclined insist that Madurai means anything sweet, the story being that Siva was so pleased with the buildings erected round about his great shrine by the first Pandyan King that, as a mark of special favour, he sprinkled the temples, towers, palaces and houses of the town of Madura with drops of sweet nector shaken from his locks.

The greater part of Madura was ruled by the Pandya dynasty. These Pandyas were the rulers of one of the three great kingdoms which in the earliest times held sway over the land of Tamils.

This Gazetteer, now being made available again after a long gap, still remains one of the most authentic and detailed record of Madura. Apart from the actual district Gazetteer, all important details about the physical description, political history, the people, agriculture and irrigation, forests, occupation and trade, means of communication, public health and education, land administration and administration of justice are covered.