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Madurai Private Tour: Discover Hidden Gems
4.9
14 Ratings
Madurai
Witness the vibrant ‘Going to Bed Ceremony’ at Meenakshi Temple with a private guide. Experience local culture and spirituality in Madurai.
Witness the vibrant ‘Going to Bed Ceremony’ at Meenakshi Temple with a private guide. Experience local culture and spirituality in Madurai.
Duration:
7 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- Thiruparankundram Temple - The Subramaniya Swamy Temple is dedicated to the Hindu god Murugan, known as the handsome son of Lord Shiva. As one of the favorite deities worshipped by Tamils, this temple in Madurai attracts a large number of devotees and pilgrims daily and throughout the year.
- Vilachery Main Road - Located on the outskirts of…
- Thiruparankundram Temple - The Subramaniya Swamy Temple is dedicated to the Hindu god Murugan, known as the handsome son of Lord Shiva. As one of the favorite deities worshipped by Tamils, this temple in Madurai attracts a large number of devotees and pilgrims daily and throughout the year.
- Vilachery Main Road - Located on the outskirts of Madurai near Thiruparankundram, the charming village of Vilachery is home to about 200 families who craft small idols of Lord Ganesh for Ganesh Chaturthi and Bommai Kolu dolls for Navaratri using clay. They also create nativity sets for Christmas. Visitors can stroll through the village and observe the artisans at work in their homes.
- Banana Market - Madurai’s wholesale banana market is a captivating place to explore. It is said that 16 varieties of bananas are available here! They arrive in clusters on branches, delivered by the cartload.
- Mattuthavani Flower Market - The Flower Market is a delightful experience for the senses, particularly for sight and smell. It is also an excellent place to interact with locals. Despite being popular with tourists, it remains one of the most traditional bazaars in Madurai.
- Samanar Hills - The Samanar Hills in Madurai have been recognized as a historically significant site and protected monument by the Archaeological Survey of India. The hills are named as such because it is common in Tamil Nadu to refer to ascetic sites, especially those of Jain tradition, as Samanar.
- Kochadai Arulmigu Sri Villayudhamudaya Ayyanar Swamy, Sri Muthaiya Swamy, Sri Karuppana Swamy, Sri Nagappa Swamy Thirukovil - This is one of the renowned local folklore temples in Madurai.
- Ayyanarkarupanasamy Kovil, Vadivelkarai - Known as one of the most beautiful local folklore temples and an iconic photo location.
- Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple - An architectural marvel of Tamil Nadu.
What's Included
- Private Walking Tour
- Private Tour Guide
- Entry Fee for Foreigners
- All fees and/or taxes
- Private Walking Tour
- Private Tour Guide
- Entry Fee for Foreigners
- All fees and/or taxes
What's Not Included
- Own Expenses
- Own Expenses
Additional Information
Explore the city from a local’s perspective with a personalized guide. Without a fixed schedule, you have the flexibility to tailor the tour or rely on the local expert for a captivating introduction to the city. Our private tours allow you to bypass ordinary historical tours and see the city through the lens of a true local. Our licensed local guides…
Explore the city from a local’s perspective with a personalized guide. Without a fixed schedule, you have the flexibility to tailor the tour or rely on the local expert for a captivating introduction to the city. Our private tours allow you to bypass ordinary historical tours and see the city through the lens of a true local. Our licensed local guides are enthusiastic about their city and keen to share their knowledge and insights. They provide an authentic and personal experience. By the end of the tour, you’ll feel at ease navigating the city and confident that you have all the information needed to maximize your stay.
Enjoy a private tour exclusively for you and your group. Your guide will tailor the tour to match your interests and personality. Gain a deeper understanding of Madurai’s life than you could on your own. Experience Madurai through a local’s eyes and uncover its hidden treasures.
- Not recommended for people has knee problem
Location
Madurai
We pick up our guests from any hotels in the city.
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.9
(14 Ratings)
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Mariflower75
Jan 3, 2025
The best guide in Madurai. - Balan is a very nice person and wonderful guide. He gave us all the answers about religion, culture and way of live, he showed us also the best important places of Madurai. Everything very interesting. Thanks so much Balan.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Moremp
Dec 9, 2024
A fantastic way to discover Madurai and Tamil culture. - We combined an Off The Beaten Track tour with a tour of Sri Meenakshi Temple and we would highly recommend both — although, definitely choose OTBT if only doing one tour. It was very special being able to see less easily accessible parts of Madurai.
Our guide, Dhanabalan, was professional, accommodating and extremely knowledgeable. He was responsive to our interests in designing the itinerary and we were grateful to learn so much about Tamil history and culture.
Organising the tour was simple via WhatsApp, and everything ran smoothly.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Paulag640
Dec 6, 2024
Highly recommended - Super recommended. Best excursion we have ever done in India. The guide is wonderful and so is the itinerary. You see different things, with few tourists and very interesting. We've learned a lot.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Yotamb818
Oct 27, 2024
Tour review - We had a great experience with our guide. He was knowledgeable in many matters. The tour was very interesting and in lighting. In addition we were taken to several local places to try the food which was a fun addition. The guide also helped us to plan our next day in Madurai.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Wander13490164882
Oct 25, 2024
Excellent guide! - We highly recommend Dhanabalan for a private guide tour of the Meenaskhi temple. He was responsive to all our questions regarding the temple, as well as the religion and indian society itself. His English was fluent!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Michellep260
Oct 22, 2024
Fascinating temple, great guide - A fascinating trip to the beautiful ancient temple after dark, full of pilgrims and interesting architecture. Our guide Dhanabalan was well read and friendly and indulged my interest in history and poetry, very kindly sending on English translations of Tamil inscriptions and giving us interesting and knowledgeable stories about both the temple and the Thousand Pillars museum which contains beautiful carvings. He also kindly helped us make an offering of sweets to Ganesh without making fools of ourselves! Highly recommended.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Wander295022
Oct 22, 2024
Great choice,deep,man of values ,professional service - Dhanabal ,the guide,is an exelent guide ,professional with great knowledg, passionate about his region, and feminist , a man of values.
We did an evenning and a long day tour,Dhanabal tailor made the trip with us ,he has an experience to see what is good by your carecter . Trough the trip he is very sensitive to your needs and knows well how to realize them. His enthusiasm needs sometime to be cool down but feel free to ask him to, he has a good sence of humor and your enjoiment is most important to him
Review provided by Tripadvisor
774narasimhak
Sep 28, 2024
Madurai Meenakshi visit is not complete unless you have a guide of Mr Dhanapalan's calliber. - After a gap of 10 years, I visited Madurai with my sister and brother in law. All 3 of us are seniors.
On the day we arrived, we had darshan of Godess Meenaxi and Sundareshwar. Following morning, we had booked for an abhisheka,and that went well.
The temple is so magnificent that we needed a guide to give us a good brief.
Mr Dhanapalan is a God's gift to us. We were very fortunate to have him as our guide. We reported to him at 320 pm in front of South Gate. He assisted us in getting our mobile phones and footwear deposited. He arranged our special darshan of the dieties. After that, he took us for a guided tour of the temple premises. Over 2 and half hours, he narrated the history of Madurai and the significance of the temple. We were thrilled with both the contents and his style of presentation. Madurai Meenakshi must have blessed him immensely to be so well informed of the details of the temple and its several creators over 1000 plus years.
We are 1000% satisfied with his service and highly recommend engaging him on your next visit to Madurai.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
430nagarajuc
Sep 22, 2024
Guided tour of Meenakshi Amman temple by Mr Bala - The guided walking tour conducted by Mr Bala is excellent. This was my first trip to Madurai and I was interested to know the history of the temple and the information available on public domain is in bits and pieces. Mr Bala gave us the importance of the temple the way it was told in mythology and also it was written in old tamil literature. He is a treasure of knowledge and made the trip and the entire guided tour a memorable one
Review provided by Tripadvisor
985vr
Dec 10, 2024
A short “temples trip” to Madurai - My wife and I were on a short “temples trip” to Madurai last week. Both of us were visiting the city after about 35 years!
Meenakshi Amman temple : Enjoyed the astonishing architecture and the divinity of the temple.
One regret is that we can’t have a clear pic of us taken with the imposing gopuram on the background. Electric poles, overhead lines that criss-cross the roads, vehicles parked haphazardly, police barricades, garishly painted advertisement banners, vendors encroaching the roads… Absolute lack of sensitivity in maintaining the sanctity of the place!
Why can’t the city / town planners in co-ordination with the temple authorities maintain a buffer zone around all the roads leading to the gopurams and ensure these are free of all such eye sores?
I understand each of these temples have huge tracts of land belonging to them. The least the temples and the devotees deserve is a clean and spacious area surrounding the temples!
No wonder Meenakshi Amman temple lost out in the race for nomination to The Seven New Wonders of the World!
The Ayiram Kal Madapam (Thousand Pillar Hall) is another architectural marvel here. The State Govt has converted this into a Museum. However, it is sad to notice that the glass encasings used to protect the idols are littered with business cards that visitors have managed to drop inside the encasing through the small cracks in the encasing. If the authorities can’t stop this, they should at least clear these up regularly!
Thirupparamkundram temple- is the first abode of the six celebrated Murugan temples.
Koodal Azhagar temple – a Perumal temple that dates back to the 16th century; characterized by architectural grandeur and serene ambience. The meticulous upkeep of the temple is a standout.
The presence of three different postures of Vishnu (Sitting , Standing, Reclining) in three tiers of the temple is a striking feature of this temple that is one of the 108 Divya Desams.
Kallazhagar temple – Known for the brilliant sculptures and frescoes, this temple, dating back to 17th century, is situated in a beautiful spot, surrounded by hills and greenery. It is one of the 108 Divya Desams. Legend has it that Lord Vishnu came here to give away his sister Goddess Meenakshi to Lord Sundareswarar in marriage.
One of the prasadams served at this temple is dosai. Not to be misled by the name, it is a not-to-be-missed preparation! A certain addition to the list of delicious prasadams dished out at Vishnu temples – Puliyodarai, curd rice, milagu vadai…
Sri Kaalamegha Perumal temple, Thirumoghur. A 2000 year old temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu; Another of the 108 Divya Desams. The temple got its name as moghur because of Lord Vishnu’s Mohini avataram that got manifested here.
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