Tirunelveli

Tirunelveli and Madurai was an important city of the Pandya Kingdom as it served as their capital for sometime “If the boundary of the town is made with stone, it will not be of aesthetic beauty and therefore boundary is fenced with paddy field”, says a Tamil Poet about Tiru-nel-veli The town has been surrounded on all sides by paddy fields. As such the town was called as ‘Nelveli’ i.e., Paddy-Hedge. Since the temple in the town is dedicated to Lord Siva’, the town around the temple was called Tiru-nel-veli. Around 1560, the town was rebuilt by Viswanatha the founder of Nayak dynasty who also erected many temples in it. Tirunelveli was the earliest Pandiya’s Capital. The Nayaks ruled Tirunelveli from Madurai during the 16th, 17th and early years of 18th Century.