Maduranthakam

Madurantakam is the southernmost suburb of Chennai city and a municipality in Chengalpattu district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The town is known for the artificial and second largest lake in Tamil Nadu, the Madurantakam lake. It is said to have been built by the Chola King Uttama Chola, also called as Maduranthaka, during his reign. It is also home to the Eri Katha Ramar Temple. As of 2011, the town had a population of 30,796.

Madurantakam was ruled by Uttama chola Madurantaka (Chola King) 971–985 CE so, it is named as Madurantakam by the memory of the king .202.21.43.112 (talk) 17:27, 24 September 2022 (UTC)
Madurantakam is one of the holy places visited by Ramanuja though it has not been sung by the Alvars. The place is also unique in that Ramanuja's statue is found dressed in white on all days while in almost all temples the saint is dressed in ochre. Ramanuja’s life’s biggest incident took place here much before he became a saint. It is here Ramanuja and Periyanambi met each other while Periyanambi was on the way to Kanchi to take Ramanuja home to Srirangam with him to start him teaching. (Ramanuja was on his way to Srirangam too,but both of them happened to take a break at the same EriKaatha Raamar Temple ) Ramanuja and Periyanambi did not want to waste a single minute thereafter and so Periyanambi performed panchasamaskara for Ramanuja here in the temple and thus Ramanuja became his disciple. In two of his poems, Manavala Mamunigal asks everyone who wants to cast away his past sins to worship the Lord at this place. There are separate shrines for Lakshmi Narasimhar, Periya Nambi and Ramanuja, Andal, Sudarsana and Vedanta Desika. The holy tank is opposite the temple with a separate shrine for Anjaneya on its banks.

The main town of Madurantakam is situated from its district headquarters Chengalpattu about 25 kilometres and state capital Chennai about 82 kilometres. It serves as the headquarters for Madurantakam taluk. The reservoir near Madurantakam irrigates more than 1000 small villages in and around the town. Kiliyar is a small river that originates from the Madurantakam reservoir which will be flooded when the reservoir is full. The Kiliyar river joins Palar before entering the Bay of Bengal. Madurantakam almost lies in Coromandel coast and gets rains in north east monsoon season. In the south west monsoon season, little showers may occur during evenings. Small hills found in Madurantakam taluk such as Vaiyavoor hill, Malaipalayam hill, Chitravadi hill, Perumberkandigai hill etc. The soil is black in nature. Also, red soil is found near coastal areas.

Madurantakam is served by town bus service, which provides connectivity within the town and the nearby villages. All buses are operating from the Bus stand which is located in the heart of the town. The State Express Transport Corporation operates buses connecting the town to other places like Chennai, Chengalpattu, Kanchipuram, Uthiramerur, Thirukazhukundram and the places like Cuddalore, Cheyyur, Chithamur, Chunampet on the ECR routes. Madurantakam railway station belongs to the Chennai railway division and is officially coded as MMK. All passenger and local trains in Chennai–Villupuram route have a halt here and only a few express trains halt. MEMU services proceed in the southern direction from Chengalpet on the line towards Villupuram. The Chennai Beach to Melmaruvahtur MEMU halts at Maduranthakam. The Comprehensive Transportation Study proposed to extend some Chengalpattu bound EMUs to Maduranthakam.

The major occupation of the inhabitants of the town and surrounding regions is agriculture. There are number of Rice mills available.

A number of educational institutions are available inside the town and surrounding.

About north west of Madurantakam lies the Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary and Karikili Bird Sanctuary, home to many rare and endangered species of migratory birds.

According to 2011 census, Madurantakam had a population of 30,796 with a sex ratio of 1,019 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929. A total of 3,184 were under the age of six, constituting 1,615 males and 1,569 females. The average literacy of the town was 75.4%, compared to the national average of 72.99%. As per the religious census of 2011, Madurantakam had 89.2% Hindus, 6.69% Muslims, 2.87% Christians, 0.02% Sikhs, 0.07% Buddhists, 0.79% Jains, 0.36% following other religions and 0.0% following no religion or did not indicate any religious preference.

Madurantakam (SC) is a state assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu, India newly formed after constituency delimitation. It is included in the Kancheepuram parliamentary constituency. K. Maragatham from All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is the current MLA.

Weekly Market (வாராந்திர சந்தை) There is a weekly market every Monday near Govt Hospital and which sells all things like vegetables, groceries, fruits, fish, etc.