A Brief Description of the Birds Eye View of the Madura Town

This rare booklet provides an English-language textual walkthrough to the wondrous Hindu architecture found in British-controlled Madura Town (Madurai, India). A short introduction outlines the city’s oblong lotus shape (a mandala); with the Sri Minakshi (Meenakshi) Temple in the center, garlanded by seven streets (only some of which were open to European tourists). Short histories and descriptions of the temple and its mantapans (outdoor halls) provide interesting tangents, like the purpose of certain bazaars and accommodations for a dozen elephants. Numerous statues and holy sites are mentioned, including the shrine of the big Belly God (Ganesha). Upon leaving the gates, the reader encounters Justice S. Subramania Iyer’s Patasalai, “a place where Brahmin boys are taught Vedas and Shastras and given boarding free of cost; and a water pandal supplying all men, with butter-milk during the hot season.” Final notable highlights include more mantapans, a ritual pool, the American Mission Church, Albert Victor Hospital, the Madura English Club, and the palace of Tirumalai Naick. The guide concludes with an invitation to view the temple jewels, an opportunity available only by application and on the payment of fifteen rupees. This was a significant sum – about a month’s wages for most laborers. Dated 1-4-1905 and attributed to author T.A. Cundasawmy Pillai. Printed in Madurai by the Setupati Press. Signed Mary H. Thompson in old ink on the front cover. A rare survivor, with no recorded copies found online in WorldCat, HathiTrust, or other repositories, though the Setupati Press was a known publisher of contemporary Tamil literature.