Madurai and Coimbatore, two important cities in Tamil Nadu, have their own distinctive, exceptional features in terms of history, heritage and modern life. Madurai is where the South of Tamil Nadu begins and Coimbatore is located on the state’s west frontier. Madurai is a city in existence for over 2400 years; Coimbatore is new-age city though it has its share of ancientness. The very fact that Madurai is called as the ‘Athens of the East’ whereas Coimbatore is proud of its ‘Manchester of South India’ tag would illustrate these cities’ characteristics.
Situated on the banks of the Vaigai river, Madurai can boast of its rich cultural heritage and architectural splendour. The city that sprawls centring the famous Sri Meenakshi Sundareswarer Temple had been the capital of Pandya Kings. It had trade relations that extended to the Romans and Greeks. When Greek ambassador Megasthenes visited the city in 302 BC, he wrote about the city’s magnificence. Arab merchants and Sufi saints also made their way to Madurai to trade with the Pandya kings.
The Sangams of Madurai were elemental in the growth of Tamil literature. A walk down the streets of Madurai today will show us a city whose buildings of past eras breathing under the wrap of modernity. Like the Meenakshi Sundareswarer Temple and the Naikkar Mahal, there are many monuments from the bygone centuries which are still preserved and visited by tourist round the year.
The jasmine grown in Madurai (Madurai Malli) is unique and is exported globally. Madurai is a city that never sleeps, its after dusk life is much enchanting and the streets turn into happy hunting ground for foodies. Whether it is late evening, midnight or the wee hours you can find food-stalls which would offer you a variety of mouth-watering dishes. Rice-based snacks like paniyaram and idiyappam, a wide repertoire of chicken, mutton, crab and rabbit dishes, and Kothu parotta are a few delicacies to mention.
Coimbatore is the second largest city of Tamil Nadu in terms of population and it draws jobseekers from all over India with its textile and manufacturing industries. If it is Vaigai for Madurai, Coimbatore has the Noyyal river. Coimbatore formed part of the Kongu country and its history dates back to the Sangam age. In the early days this region was inhabited by tribes, the most predominant among them being the Kosars. Unlike Madurai, Coimbatore has a pleasant weather due to its proximity to the Western Ghats.
Coimbatore is a little modern when compared to the historically distinguished Madurai. Apart from its industries and higher education institutions Coimbatore has a Formula 3 Auto racing circuit, the Kari Speedway. Narain Karthikeyan, the first Formula One racer from India hails from this city.
Of all, the slangs of Madurai and Coimbatore are unmatched. Madurai’s Tamil would sound naive perforated with wry humor but Coimbatore slang is of honeyed words uttered in its own musicality. With a mix of antiquity and contemporaneity these cities remain a source pride and inspiration to the local populace.
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