Madurai Jasmine Temple Meenakshi Cotton Weaving Culture

Madurai in Virudhunagar district is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu — home to the Meenakshi Amman Temple (a Dravidian architectural masterpiece with 14 coloured gopurams covered in 33,000 sculptured figures), the ancient Tamil Sangam literary tradition, and the malli (jasmine) flower market at the Meenakshi temple precincts where women traders sell garlands (malai) that are offered to the goddess and worn in hair. Madurai jasmine (Jasminum sambac) cultivation around Madurai and Theni districts produces flowers that are the basis of a significant jasmine concrete and absolute perfumery industry exported to French perfumers. The Madurai cotton handloom cluster in Silaiman and Thirupparankundram blocks weaves the famous Madurai sungudi sari — a soft tie-dyed cotton sari with small colour dots created by resist-tied fabric before dyeing.