Madurai is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu It is the administrative headquarters of Madurai District and a popular Hindu pilgrimage centre.
Sangam period
Madurai is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It was a flourishing city by the 1st millennium BC and served as the capital of the Pandyan Kingdom. Madurai features prominently in the 2nd century Tamil epic Silappadhikaram and the song Maturaikkāñci, both of which gives a detailed description of the city, its life and people.
Madurai finds mention in the works of Roman historians Pliny the Younger and Ptolemy and those of the Greek geographer Strabo. It is also mentioned in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea.
References
History of Madurai Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA