Dear Daughter,
Papa went to the Palace here in Madurai called the Thirumalai Nayak Palace. Thirumalai was a king who lived here over four hundred years ago and this was his palace. His family dynasty was the Nayaks and they ruled Madurai and the area around here for two hundred years.
Thirumalai was said to be a very good king and he loved music and Sanskrit poetry and would have music every night in his courtyard.
Also, the Temple that Papa has gone to several times and I have sent you pictures was the center of town and Thirumalai made sure that it was really special. You know how you are learning about castles and dragons in school? Well, they built a really big moat all around the Temple so that if you could see it from above, it would look like a giant lotus flower in the middle of a pond. Isn’t that cool?
Later, the moats were filled in by the British who were in India for a while, so you cannot see them any longer.
However, the four streets around the Temple are stilled called “velis,” which means a moat or watery place in Tamil to remind everyone what they once were.
Here are a few pictures of what the palace looked like at night with the special lights on it. It was very beautiful.
I Love You,
Papa
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