Madurai :

Although the beautiful Thirumalai Nayak mahal, a palace built by the Nayak king Thirumalai Nayak (1623-1659) more than 400 years ago, is only one-fourth of its original structure now, it still attracts thousands of tourists every year. The road that hosts it does credit to the handsome structure, as British-era buildings, including a church, line the stretch.

The name Palace Road too is a British contribution, said V Vedachalam, an archeologist, explaining that the street came under the foreigners after they conquered Madurai by 1790. Many Nayak structures were converted to offices, and the district court was housed in Nayak mahal till the 1980s, assigning much prominence to the road, he said.

The east gate CSI church is another important structure here, established by American missionaries in 1845. T Chinnaraj, former principal of American college, said that it had been the first church of the American missionaries.

“It is believed that it was the most beautiful church at the time and British collectors had written back to England about this church coming up. The missionaries bought this piece of land outside palace entry and constructed a place of worship for themselves. Most of their constructions, like the mission hospital, came beyond this church,” he pointed out.

The palace, built in 1636, was dismantled by Thirumalai Nayak’s grandson, who shifted most of the materials to Thiruchirapalli to construct his own palace.

However, the hybrid Dravidian- Islamic style palace remains one of the prime attractions of city, drawing even foreign crowds.

Sixty-nine-year-old A K Venkatachalapathy, a resident of Palace Road, recalls it as one of the most beautiful streets he had ever seen. The road used to act a min-bus stand, and buses would start from here and go to the tail ends of the city.

The park in front of the palace used to be a hive of activity, he says, as people gathered there after their day’s work to listen to the radio. Televisions had not started to make an appearance, he recalls, and loud speakers used to blare out the radio for the residents. Over hot cups of coffee from the Saraswathy cafe opposite the palace, the residents used to meet and talk, and the memory of the good old days remains with Venkatachalapathy even as he admits that the face of the street has changed forever.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Madurai / by J . Arockiaraj,  TNN / November 23rd, 2014