
Picture of Tirumalai Nayak Mahal/ Palace
Written by London Swaminathan
Post No. 15,979
Date uploaded in London – 13 July 2026
Contact – swami_48@yahoo.com
Pictures are taken from various sources for spreading knowledge.
this is a non- commercial blog. Thanks for your great pictures.
tamilandvedas.com, swamiindology.blogspot.com
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Picture of Tirumalai Nayak Mahal/ Palace from 1956 TVS book on Madurai
Those who visit Madurai in Tamil Nadu never miss the world-famous Madurai Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple. For local people it is simply Meenaachchi koyil! Those who have more time will visit the famous palace of Tirumalai Nayak. For local people it is simply mahaal. Both the temple and the palace were built by the famous Nayak King Tirumalai Naayakkar. Though the temple has been there in the same place for at least 2000 years, Nayak was the one who constructed it with huge and tall and colourful towers.
Whenever our relatives visited us in Madurai, we used to take them to these places and Mariamman Teppakulam (huge tank) as well. As long as Madurai exists name and fame of the great Nayak king will survive. When we went there our favourite activity was enjoying the smoothness of the mighty tall shining white colonnades/pillars. We used to stroke it and try to hug it. Three or four boys were needed to circle it to join their hands. Nowadays the authorities don’t allow such things.
It is said that the Nayak king sought the help of an Italian architect to design the palace; but the secret of the mighty, strong, smooth colonnades is totally a local technique; it is given in a verse in Madurai Tiruppani Malai (Poem about Madurai Temple Renovation). It gives the secret behind the marble looking, strong tall colonades/pillars. The sculptors mixed lime, sugarcane juice, gooseberry, black gram, myrobalan, terminalia bellerica in a particular proportion; soaked some of them in water to get thick juice out of it. It will be good if our modern engineers or architects try this technique.
The palace called Mahal was built in 1636. At present only one fourth of the original structure remain. When it was built, it had two main parts called Swarga vilasa (Celestial Pavilion) and Ranga Vilasa. Besides these two royal residences, there were a theatre, a shrine, queens’ apartments, an armoury, a building for housing palanquins, royal music hall, a pond, gardens and quarters for relatives and workers. The rampart wall was 900 feet in length and 660 feet in width, and 40 feet in height.
Main palace has pillars 40 feet in height. An ancient description of the palace Tn tamil records that
this pavilion Swarga vilasa, is so constructed in a way that it to be said that in no other country is there a court equal to it, by reason of its splendid ornaments, their excellence, number, extent, curious workmanship and great beauty. In the middle of the hall there was a jewelled throne on which the king used to sit and reign. During the Nine Nights Festival – Navaratri Viza- Nayak used to sit there in special ornamental dress; other kings under his rule used to come and pay him homage.
Sceptre Festival
Picture by Dr A Narayanan, Sydney.
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Old Picture of Tirumalai Nayak Mahal/ Palace
Like Travancore Maharajas ruling in the name of Anantha Padmanabhaswamy of Thiruvananthapuram temple, Tirumalai Nayak ruled part of Tamil Nadu and Kerala in the name of Goddess Meenakshi. She was the Queen of Madurai 2000 years ago. Every year a function called Sceptre Festival was celebrated; in fact, a symbolic annual Sceptre Festival is done even today. Tirumalai Nayak combined two different festivals to unite Saivites and Vaishnavites and made Chitra Festival (April/May is Chitra month in Hindu Calendar). On the eighth day of the famous Chitra Festival, Sceptre festival was celebrated. The king would visit the temple and after special worship, receive from the hand of the goddess, the royal sceptre set with precious gems. The sceptre would be brought to the palace on the royal elephant accompanied by a great procession. The sceptre would be placed on the throne and would receive special worship from the hands of the king. The dignitaries, commanders, poets and other palace servants would receive royal gifts and royal titles on the occasion. The sceptre would be enthroned in this celestial pavilion the whole day and after due worship will be returned to the temple the next day. This function was symbolic of the country being ruled by Goddess Meenakshi, and the Nayak ruler administered the country as a servant of Goddess. Even Queen Mangammal and other successors continued this festival until the end of Nayak rule.
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Three Important Points
Tirumalai Nayak worshipped Raja Rajeswari every day in the special Puja Hall in the palace.
In the music hall 18 different types of Musical instruments were used.
The Natakasala, that is the theatre, was 135 feet long by 68 feet wide and 40 feet in height, to the centre of the roof is 70 feet. Nayak used to watch performances by the dancing damsels with the help of oil lamps and torch bearers.
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Notorious Thief Honoured and Beheaded!

One tradition says that a thief/kallan in Tamil, entered the palace by making a hole in the roof. It is said that the king used to sleep in a cot hung by long chains from hooks in the roof. The thief used the same chain to come down and steal all the royal jewels. The king promised a jagir (vast land) to anyone who would bring him the thief. The thief heard it and gave himself and claimed the award. The king gave him the jaghir and then promptly had him beheaded. For many years that chamber was used as a district court.
(A “jaghir” is a historical form of land grant in India dating back to the Islamic Sultanate and Mughal periods, where a ruler assigned the right to collect land taxes or administrative revenues from a specific district to a noble in exchange for military service or administrative duties.)
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Ranga vilasa and Ten Pillars
Once the palace had a protective rampart wall 900 feet in length, 660 feet in width and 40 feet in height. Part of the place was covered with golden sheets. Elephant ivory was used for decorations.
We can see even now ten pillars. Originally this portion was part of a big palace. There was another palace like Celestial Pavilion (Swarga Viasa) called Ranga Vilasa (Colourful Pavilion). Tirumalai Nayak’s younger brother Muthialu Nayak lived there. There is a street named Navabathkana street now. This was also part of the palace.
Thirumalai Nayak’s grandson Chokkanatha Nayak changed the capital to Thiruchi and removed the throne, costly jewels and other treasures. He even demolished some parts of the dilapidated palace and took the building materials to Thiruchi to build a new palace. He could not succeed fully in his plans.
Slowly the reminder of the buildings got more dilapidated because of the rains. In 1858, Lord Napier, the then Governor of Madras, spent some money and restored the palace. Now it is maintained by the State Department of Archaeology.
–Subham—
Tags- Tirumalai Nayak, Palace, Mahal, Sceptre festival, Chitra festival, Thief beheaded, Goddess Meenakshi,


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