Madurai - Madurai (English spelling)

Madura is a city in the southern part of Tamil Nadu state, southern India. It is located 149 meters above sea level on the Tamil Nadu plain, and has a dry tropical savanna climate with an average annual temperature of 29°C and an average annual rainfall of 894 mm. Its population is 922,913, and including the surrounding area, the population is 1,194,665 (2001). It was the capital of the Pandya Kingdom, which flourished from the 5th century BC to the 14th century AD, and the Nayak Kingdom from the 16th to 18th centuries, and is known for the Hindu Minakshi Temple, built by Tirumala Nayak in the 17th century. The Minakshi Temple is a large stone temple in the South Indian style, measuring 258 meters east to west and 222 meters north to south, and has nine large pylons (copurams). The large pylons on the east, west, north and south sides are 46 meters high, and their exterior walls are covered with highly colored statues. It is famous nationwide for its silk and muslin dyeing and weaving industries, and is a distribution center for agricultural products such as rice and tobacco produced in the surrounding area, and is also home to agricultural product processing companies. National Highways 7 and 49 pass through the city, making it a railway hub and connecting it to Rameshwaram in the east and Cape Comorin in the south.

[Toshiro Naruse]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

インド南部、タミル・ナド州南部の都市。マドゥラMaduraともいう。タミル・ナド平原の標高149メートルに位置し、年平均気温29℃、年降水量894ミリメートルの乾燥した熱帯サバンナ気候の地である。人口92万2913、周辺部を含む人口119万4665（2001）。紀元前5世紀～紀元後14世紀に栄えたパーンディヤ王国および16～18世紀のナヤク王国の都で、17世紀にティルマーラ・ナヤクが建設したヒンドゥー教のミナクシ寺院で知られる。ミナクシ寺院は東西258メートル、南北222メートルの広さをもつ南インド様式の石造大寺院で、九つの大塔門（コープラム）をもつ。とくに東西南北にある大塔門は高さが46メートルあり、極彩色の彫像が外壁を埋める。産業は絹やモスリンの染色・織物工業が全国的に有名で、周辺で産出する米、タバコなど農産物の集散地であり、農産物加工業も立地する。国道7号線、49号線が通り、鉄道の結節点であり、東方のラメスワラムや南方のコモリン岬に通じる。

［成瀬敏郎］

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